“Jumping from 68 to 80 teams oversaturates the product that we already love so much.”
DENVER — ESPN reported this week that there have been discussions to change up the format of both the men’s and women’s tournaments by expanding them from 68 teams to as many as 80.
To me, this would be a bad idea. It is already the greatest postseason tournament in all of sports, and it’s not even close really. So why would you mess with it?
The thrill of the ‘First Four’ weekend is perfect. Four bubble teams battling as an appetizer to the start of the tourney. If we start letting more teams in with say near .500 records, how competitive is that going to look? It would feel like that first week or weekend would really drag. One of the best things about the big dance is that it’s played at a quick pace.
The college basketball regular season already means close to nothing and we’re always waiting for the postseason conference tournaments to start. The playoffs is where college hoops excels.
If you want like two more teams in there to make it 70? Fine. But jumping from 68 to 80 teams oversaturates the product that we already love so much. It has the perfect amount of mid-major teams in it. I respect the work these smaller schools put in, but we don’t need more teams the general public doesn’t know a lot about. One or two small-team, Cinderella-type runs are just the right amount.
In sports, we sometimes overthink things, especially with the poorly-run NCAA. So please, NCAA, don’t change this. It’s the only thing you guys still have going for you, now that you’ve ruined college football.
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