Monday, February 01, 2010

NCAA Tournament Expanding

The NCAA may be expanding its field to as many as 96 teams, perhaps as soon as next year. This has been on the table for a while and coaches love the idea, but like many fans I think this will be a disaster.
  1. It will water down the best postseason in sports. There are many reasons why people hate the BCS. One that is commonly overlooked is how it continues to support mind numbingly pointless endeavors such as the "R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl." Middle Tennessee State and Southern Miss on national TV? No, thanks. Now imagine taking the next step and making a game like this one of many to decide the national championship.
  2. In a similar vein, bad coaches will keep their jobs as bad teams can now "boast" about making the Tournament. While going back to the NIT this year could put Mike Brey on the hot seat, making an expanded tourney could provide inept athletic directors with enough reason to keep underachieving coaches around.
  3. It will ruin the regular season. While the regular season is already overshadowed by what happens in March, it at least plays an important role in deciding who gets to compete for the big crown. The last few weeks before Selection Sunday are especially exciting as bubble teams fight for their playoff lives. Every game becomes must-win. Now those teams will be subpar programs in small conferences or really bad squads in the major leagues, who very few people will care about.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm with you B&G. If it's not broken don't fix it. Another sad aspect would be the death of the NIT. As much as people like to disparage the NIT, at one time it was the equal of the National Championship tournament.

BlackandGreen said...

They could keep it around by seeding the losers of the first round of the NCAAs, but that would just be the final straw. 40 years ago, the NIT was big enough that Al McGuire won his own national championship by thumbing his nose at the NCAA, kind of a neat turn of events.

Anonymous said...

Al McGuire was a coach that won a National Championship at a strong academic Catholic school in the Midwest. Hmmmmmmm.

Anonymous said...

Everyone should do themselves a favor and listen to Bob Knight analyze a basketball game. There has never been anyone that has done it better and with more insight. He is outstanding. I never thought that he would transition as well as he has done. If you listen to him you are hearing the things that he taught his players and things that lead to winning basketball.

Anonymous said...

Why not just have everyone make the tournament?? This is madness. 64 teams is already too many. If you realize that no one lower than a 9 seed has ever won the tournament, there should be no more than 36 teams. No one outside of those teams has a realistic shot of winning. Say what you want about the BCS but the one thing it does get right is that people CARE about the championship game. I feel like the tournament is now just two things, the first week Thursday through Sunday and who makes it to the final four. It's like the actual National Championship is overshadowed by this gigantic white elephant of a tournament. But we're depriving the George Mason's of the world! Who cares? George Mason, Gonzaga, Vincennes, none of these teams actually WON anything!