Unfortunately, it seems as though the expansion of the NCAA basketball tournament to 96 teams is inevitable. The expansion of the current 65-team tournament, which will likely take place in 2011, is the worst decision that the NCAA men’s college basketball committe could possibly make. This year’s tournament is a perfect example of why March Madness, in its current form, is the greatest playoff system in all of sports. In what other sport, at any level, do you see so many unthinkable upsets? I mean, please improve the bowl system in college football and change it to a playoff, but don’t destroy college basketball. A 96-team tournament would mean that the top 32 teams receive an opening round bye. In other words, Cinderella teams will have to win an extra game in order to reach the Sweet 16. This will do nothing but decrease the number of upsets in the tournament; we can kiss goodbye 14-seeds upsetting 3-seeds on opening day, and say hello to the top 16 seeded teams advancing to the Sweet 16.
Now you might ask why would the men’s basketball committee ruin something so perfect? They claim the two advantages are an increase in revenue and helping coaches gain job security. And sure, the NCAA will make more money during the tournament because of the additional teams, but their regular season gross is going to plummet. Also, regular season ticket sales and TV ratings are going to diminish because no one will want to watch games that have absolutely no significance; any team that plays in the big 6 conferences is going to automatically make the tournament, even teams with losing records
The committee’s intent to improve job security with this expansion is completely counter intuitive. No matter how many teams are allowed in the tournament, there are always going to be teams on the bubble, always teams that don’t get in. What happens if you are one of the coaches at a big school and your team doesn’t make the tournament of 96 teams? You might as well resign on the spot and save some dignity. If the 96-team expansion takes place it will mean an end to March Madness as we know it. The best college playoff in March will soon be the Frozen Four (college hockey)…how upsetting is that? I don’t know about you, but I will no longer look forward to March with the same enthusiasm if this expansion takes place.
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