NCAA Tournament

[abpk2903]

I just don't like this 68 team set-up that they currently have in the NCAA. I struggle to understand why a team that is deemed an 11 seed (AKA 41-44th best teams in a 68 team bracket) should have to play to get into the tournament. Personally, I liked the 64 team bracket.

We all know the NCAA isn't going to throw out the millions of dollars generated Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton but there has to be a better way.

I would rather see 4 play in games from the 61st-68th ranked team in the bracket but maybe I'm crazy. I do think the loser of those "play-in" games should then have the right to play in another post season tournament (NIT, CBI, CIT).

[Manfred]

One of the few times I wholeheartedly agree with you.

[Crimson's Ghost]

The extra 3 bids come from at-large berths, not conference winners. I think 11 seeds are being treated fairly.

[say_oww]

Just wait until they add in more games. Eventually they will need to make up for the revenue they lost when the video game revenue streams were canceled.

[Crimson's Ghost]

But I agree with the premise that it should be a 64 team tournament. But since there's 68, I think it's fair that some of the bigger schools have to play-in as well and not just all the bottom seeds.

[JustWrestle]

I don't know if anyone else watched the ESPN 30 for 30 about Christian Laettner but I thought that they said the NCAA is trying to settle a lawsuit for using player likeness and get back in to the video game world and actually pay players for using their likeness.

[abpk2903]

What isn't fair for the mid majors to make the play in games for the 8 lowest seeds in the bracket? First off, they have the opportunity to earn 2 tournament and nationally televised games by winning the play-in. Just getting an extra nationally televised game is huge for these smaller programs. For the mid-major conferences that don't want the play-in game, the path is simple. Play well enough to get into the top 60 teams in the tourney. If your a mid major conference school, put a few major conference programs in your OOC, get into a competitive holiday tournament, and win 25+ games. That would get you a path straight to the 64 team bracket.

I think it would be particularly fun to see these mid-major teams battle it out to prove they belong in the field and they not just get in by conference affiliation. That way when a school like RMU puts a banner up in their gym that they made the NCAA tournament, no one questions if they really deserved it.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Well the thing is, I've never questioned whether a low-major team actually deserves to be there or not. Winning your league is a pretty worthy way into the tournament. Although, I would like to see it change and the automatic berth given to the team that actually wins the league - not who wins the league tournament.


The extra games were made to accommodate teams like Dayton,Boise State, Ole Miss, and BYU not teams like Robert Morris, North Florida, Manhattan, and Hampton. SO it inconveniences the small guys more, so I think it's OK for the last four at-large teams to have to earn their way into the dance.

[abpk2903]

Let's just go to a 256 team bracket! Make all the money they can. If you have 7 breathing bodies left in March, you're in.

But in all seriousness, I thought the goal was to award the better teams in the regular season to best find a true national champion. With the size of this tournament and the one and done nature, I rarely think college basketball does that.

[KirkHerbstreit]

Let's just go to a 256 team bracket! Make all the money they can. If you have 7 breathing bodies left in March, you're in.

But in all seriousness, I thought the goal was to award the better teams in the regular season to best find a true national champion. With the size of this tournament and the one and done nature, I rarely think college basketball does that.

Penn State might even make the tourney or at least be a bubble team!