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Tourney expanding to 76 teams

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Da_Lucky_One said:
64 was the perfect number.
68 is a money grab but it doesn't feel as bad since it's mostly high major teams who should probably be in the NIT.
76 is a complete money grab and a waste of time.
No one actually thinks a team between 65-76 will win the National Championship.
This is worse than a 24 team playoff in college football.
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Strong point made. This is worse because it’s really not even an expansion; it’s an expansion of bubble. This is like a fed chairman or Wall Street vote of confidence on NYE in 2007.

I would’ve respected it more if they wanted to expand that they actually expanded the 64. This is a half-assed half measure. The release of the report was calculated and mfs were too scared to go on the record about it.

What’s going on is already janky when Miami OH has to be a playin team. I think it’s disrespectful for any conference champion to be in a playin game; now **** near half of the non-p5 conference champions will be in there.

They reference the need to expand because of the p5 growing in size. Okay. Then actually expand lol. The 16 extra teams is just going to be used to worsen the starting position of a lot of cinderellas. 3/8 p4 teams this past year were in the first four.

The expanded opening round will be split between at-large teams and teams who have won automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. All No. 16 seeds and half the No. 15 seeds will play games Tuesday and Wednesday of the opening round. The other half of the games will be a mix depending on team quality comprised of No. 11, No. 12 and maybe a No. 13 seed.
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cookies said:
Strong point made. This is worse because it’s really not even an expansion; it’s an expansion of bubble. This is like a fed chairman or Wall Street vote of confidence on NYE in 2007.

I would’ve respected it more if they wanted to expand that they actually expanded the 64. This is a half-assed half measure. The release of the report was calculated and mfs were too scared to go on the record about it.

What’s going on is already janky when Miami OH has to be a playin team. I think it’s disrespectful for any conference champion to be in a playin game; now **** near half of the non-p5 conference champions will be in there.

They reference the need to expand because of the p5 growing in size. Okay. Then actually expand lol. The 16 extra teams is just going to be used to worsen the starting position of a lot of cinderellas. 3/8 teams this past year were in the first four.
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It's 8 extra teams, not 16. Still 8 too many.
 
LPCanes26 said:
It's 8 extra teams, not 16. Still 8 too many.
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Yeah the numerology and linguistics of it all make it confusing. The bubble and playin have expanded & merged together in a way
The mechanics of the expansion in the men's tournament would include eight additional at-large bids. What's known now as the First Four -- eight teams playing four games in Dayton, Ohio -- would expand to 12 games played by 24 teams at two sites, one of which was expected to remain in Dayton.

The location of the new site has yet to be determined, but it was expected to be west of the Eastern time zone to help with logistics.

The expansion would lead to an additional eight men's games, meaning the Tuesday and Wednesday of the NCAA tournament would feature 24 of the 76 men's teams.
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I can get understand if the plan is to reward teams where the only realistic chance of making it is by winning their conference tourney. This year: Tulsa, Belmont, Akron, Yale, etc.

If it's just to pull in so so teams from power conferences, then I'm less inclined to view the changes positively
 
casualcane said:
I can get understand if the plan is to reward teams where the only realistic chance of making it is by winning their conference tourney. This year: Tulsa, Belmont, Akron, Yale, etc.

If it's just to pull in so so teams from power conferences, then I'm less inclined to view the changes positively
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It is and the pseudo press release by Pete Thamel outright states as such

The primary driver of this move hasn't been money, but rather access for at-large bids for power conferences. The expansion has been pushed by power conferences, which have grown throughout the course of the current deal.
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This, additionally, is a win-win for the NCAA; because it helps them as they move forward to a real expansion of the tournament after the TV contracts end in 2032.

I do believe that an expansion of the 64

1. Is necessary
2. Would improve the tournament and overall landscape
3. Can benefit power conferences and smaller conferences
4. Doesn’t devalue the regular season

I do think the setup atm is pretty disadvantageous for Atlantic-10 which is the strongest league outside the p4 + Big East. Hopefully that conference can be aided with an expansion, a real one, however the smaller school guys don’t suspect it will be
 
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