Are you in favor of a 96 game NCAA tournament? I'm not sure myself. I could see it adding an extra layer of fun, but you might get some really really bad games on that first weekend.
Then again, you already get those. And you just might get an epic upset or two.
The former Gambler in me would love it but when do you stop why not just have everyone get in like the FA Cup in England and let the chips fall where they may Leeds knocked off Man Utd this year in the FA a huge upset so this might be good for the NCAA
ReplyDeleteThe format would require 32 teams to receive a first-round bye for the brackets to produce a traditional final four, so while upsets may occur, none would be "epic".
ReplyDeleteHow many #16s have won a non-play-in game? That's what I thought.
ReplyDeleteBut the additional teams would be better than 16 seeds. Remember that 16 seeds are primarily composed of bad teams that get hot in small conference tournaments and frequently have losing records.
ReplyDeleteThose 16s (24s?) would open against the equivalent of 9 seeds. They might win a couple, but they'll neither capture ratings magic or the imagination of the sporting public, as a David vs Goliath does in the present format. Is Goliath really Goliath if Goliath is unranked, and the 6th place team in the Big 10? What's the big deal if UWM, for example, beats Minnesota by present standards?
ReplyDeleteI don't think much of this expansion. Smells a little like BCS-ification, simply a means to ensure that the power conferences get their guys to the final four, throwing another hurdle in front of the mid-majors and little guys.
Ha. Are they serious? That sounds like a little too much. If they do expand, they should let in the top 4 Division II teams, the top 2 Division III teams and the top 2 Womens teams. Maybe a high school team or two?
ReplyDeleteFor all practical purposes, every team already is in ... its called conference tournaments.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I hate the idea of expansion. 32 Teams will have first round byes. That will mean the first round of games will effectively be mediocre Major conference schools who would have otherwise been bubble teams and a bunch of Mid-Majors knocking each other off. Frankly, that doesn't excite me much. Expansion will further erode the importance of the entire regular season and in particular, the conference schedules. The conference tournament, which serves as a play in opportunity for many of the bubble teams today, will be exhibition games for all of the major conference teams except the very worst teams in that league.
The rank Hypocrisy of the NCAA wanting to add 32 more games to a tournament that already spans 3 weekends, and then refusing to even consider an 8 team football play-off is mind numbing.
Brackets would be harder to format.
ReplyDeleteI much prefer the tournament only host conference champions.
Easiest first round to ignore ever.
ReplyDelete