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//  Saturday, July 31, 2010

Don't Expand the Tournament

Saturday, February 27, 2010
Posted by Adam Bunn

The Men's NCAA basketball tournament is without a doubt the best postseason event in sports today. And as a devoted college basketball fan I fill out my typical five brackets and set up multiple TVs so I can watch every game as they happen. So it drives me crazy when I hear about the possible expansion of a tournament that is already close to perfect. The NCAA is now seriously considering an expansion from 65 to 96 teams which under the new guidelines would give byes to the top 32 seeds and give automatic bids to the regular season champion from each conference while also destroying what I believe is already as close to perfection as you can get.

Many of the proponents of expansion say they want expansion because it allows more teams in the tournament there fore allowing more chances for memorable games that go down to the wire, but everyone knows the real reason is the all-mighty dollar. According to the sports business journal the NCAA can opt out of their TV deal with CBS after this season and of course they will want more money from the next network they go to. But to get more money they will need to have more games, so revenue is what is really driving the push for expansion.

The great thing about the current format of the tournament is that you have to work hard in the regular season to get into the field. By expanding to 96 you destroy not only the regular season, but also the conference tournaments. The regular season is where you build up your tournament resume, its where the elite teams are separated from the weak teams, by expanding the tournament the regular season becomes unimportant. it allows teams who have under achieved all year to slide into the tournament without putting in the work that others have. Conference tournaments have long been known as a Cinderella’s last hope to make the tournament, because under the current format a team that has a 16-13 record for example can win their conference title and get a bid in the NCAA’s, but after an expansion those bids would be worthless because the team winning the conference tournament would most likely already be receiving a bid so all a conference tournament would be worth is bragging rights and most teams don’t care about that in the bigger picture.  

Most in favor of the expansion say that basketball postseason play is to exclusive and that college football allows over 50 percent of Division 1 teams to participate in postseason play, but the difference is that those 68 out of 120 teams do not have a shot at the National Title, 66 of those 68 teams play in meaningless bowl games that have no added importance to the bigger picture, while all 65 teams in the basketball tournament have at least a small shot at winning the Title. The perfect example of this is George Mason in 2006 they beat North Carolina and Connecticut to reach the Final Four, no mid-major team would ever have that chance in Football just look at Boise State as a perfect example of that.

A mistake most people make when they talk about expansion is they think that those extra bids will go to the mid major teams that are kept out of the field of 65 and that is just not realistic. What will happen instead is that the extra bids will go to bottom tier power conference teams that schedule easy games before their conference slate begins and work their way in the tournament because of the conference they play in. Take this year for instance The Big East is currently projected by ESPN to have 8 teams in the tournament out of the 16 in the conference. If the tournament were to expand that number would grow to around 12 and would include teams that have sub .500 conference records. I’ am a die-hard Carolina fan and I want more than anything for my team to play in the NCAA tournament, but I will be the first to tell you that they just don’t deserve it this year and if the tournament expanded they would be in and that is a tragedy.  Mid-Majors may get a few of those bids but the majority will go to terrible big name teams that don’t deserve it.  

Several coaches have come out in the media in support of the expansion to 96 teams. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse coach Jim Boehiem have been the two most vocal voice in support of it. They say that expanding the tournament enhances the competition in the tournament and gives fans what they want meaning more chances for upsets and a longer tournament to enjoy, but of course they are going to say that they are two of the best coaches in the country they can afford to say that because they have credibility in the national media, what you wont see is coaches from struggling teams coming out and supporting expansion, because everyone would see right through that. It’s clear that coaches are in favor of the expansion because they want job security. If a coach makes the NCAA tournament every year their job is basically safe no matter how many teams are allowed in. So if you hear a coach coming out in favor of the expansion don’t give too much thought to what they’re saying just remember that they look out for their own not what the fans want.

Expanding the NCAA tournament would destroy a tradition that has held true for over 25 years. The great thing about the NCAA tournament is that it’s only for the best teams in the country. You can’t have a terrible year and still find yourself playing for the National Title. It’s an elite competition that attracts not only hard core basketball fans but also those who only watch because of the unknown nature that takes place during every game. Expanding the tournament takes away that unknown nature and it replaces it with a first weekend of games featuring teams that could have under .500 records and that would not only be boring as a fan to watch, but it would ruin the one good thing that exists in college sports.  

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