March is approaching and we can almost feel the warmer weather and Michigan State NCAA Tournament games. Setting up watch parties outside is a yearly tradition (weather-permitting), but this is basically the official start of spring.
It means March Madness is upon us.
There may be no more perfect sporting event in the world than the NCAA Tournament. The opening round of the NCAA Tournament is like Christmas to us hardcore college basketball fans.
Yet the NCAA is trying to ruin it for us.
According to Jeff Borzello, NCAA president Charlie Baker said that he would like to see the NCAA Tournament expand and they’re reportedly still talking about it.
That would be horrible for March Madness. It would ruin March Madness.
The great thing about the NCAA Tournament is that any team can pull off an upset because it’s essentially the 68 best teams in the country. OK, that can be argued because the mid-majors have sent some sub-.500 conference tournament champs to the Big Dance. The drop-off from NCAA Tournament teams to NIT teams, at least at the power conference level, is massive.
Almost a dozen Big Ten teams make the NCAA Tournament on a yearly basis, and if the field expands, that means teams like Washington and Minnesota could be on the bubble despite hovering around .500. It would make an NCAA Tournament berth less special and that kind of ruins the magic of March Madness.
It’s fun to watch teams sweat it out on Selection Sunday. There would be no need for that if the field was expanded to nearly 80 teams would remove any excitement from Selection Sunday.
Strike one.
It would probably cause more First Four-like games which is just another way for the NCAA to make more money.
Strike two.
And there’s just no point of adding 6-8 more mediocre power conference teams. Realistically, there are only 2-3 legit snubs every year. Although 72 to 76 teams wouldn’t be a huge expansion, it would just open the door to more expansions down the line for the NCAA to continue to make more money.
Strike three.
This would be a horrible idea for the sport and it would ruin what I consider to be the best event in sports. Let’s not change something that’s already perfect.