Sorry for the lack of beef intake lately for you readers out there, I guess I have just been a joyous mood with March Madness upon us. I hope you found another source of protein in the meantime. But not to worry, the beef is back and today it is with the proposal of expanding the NCAA Basketball Tournament to 96 teams from its current 65 teams.
The 65 team tournament has been in place since 2001, when one team was added to the tournament to participate in an opening-round game with the 64th team. The tournament however, has had 64 teams since 1985, and has expanded a grand total of nine times since its original inception, starting with eight teams in 1939, and growing from there.
The tournament has grown alongside NCAA Division I, which now houses 347 teams. But is it really time for another expansion?
Coaches and NCAA officials who are calling for the expansion, mostly say that it would give teams from smaller conferences a better shot at the tournament, but what this decision really comes down to is one thing: money.
The NCAA currently has an 11 year, $6 billion contract with CBS that runs through 2013. But after this tournament, the NCAA can choose to opt out of the contract if it wishes to do so. In this economy, it is tough to tell whether the NCAA would opt out of a deal that is making them around $545 million a year; the only incentive to do so would be if they could make more money by having more games.
The 96 team tournament would mean 31 more games, mostly coming in the form of play-in games, and would mean a lot more money for the NCAA from networks wanting to broadcast these games. But the NCAA would not be the only one making a profit off this expansion; the coaches would be as well.
The chances of making the tournament would dramatically increase, as the percentage of teams with the opportunity to go dancing would go from 18.73% to 27.67%. Coaches who make the tournament will look good, and not only have more job security, but will also have a few more zeroes at the end of their paycheck.
So no one loses out, everyone makes a profit, no harm, no foul, right? Wrong. The NCAA seems to forget that the term for athletes in college is "student-athlete." Being a student means attending class (for some people at least), and with the expansion, these players would have to miss an extra week of classes, one of the reasons the NCAA has cited for not creating a playoff system in football. But the real reason is money, and the bowl system in college football and the the tournament expansion in basketball, are the best ways to make that.
Then there is the actual integrity of the tournament. The NCAA Basketball Tournament is one of the greatest events in sports. Every year there are few complaints about teams that got snubbed, but anytime you have something that leaves people out, someone is bound to complain. Plus, there are only complaints about several teams, not thirty-four.
The importance of the regular season and conference tournaments would also be threatened. No longer would small-conference teams necessarily have to win their conference tournaments to make it to the NCAA tournament.
Big conference teams also would not have to play up to the same caliber as they do in the current system. Teams in conferences such as the Big East, with tough schedules, could have .500 seasons, and still make a 96 team tournament. Teams should get a chance at the national title for being excellent, not average.
Jay Mariotti said it best, stating that the tournament expansion would result in "bloated mediocrity." This is portrayed perfectly in the Washington Post. According to the Post, a 96 team tournament this year would probably add additional play-in games like Texas-El Paso vs. Lehigh and Dayton vs. Sam Houston State. Not the most appealing participants.
The NCAA tournament is already 3 weeks long, which seems to be the perfect length. The expansion would make the tournament a month long, and as a result the "madness" of many viewers may fade by the time the championship game hits.
Viewers can only be on the edge of their seat, and maintain a high level of interest in an event for so long, before it starts to get old. When it comes to the NCAA tournament, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.
The NCAA tournament is perfect the way it is. Every game features at least one team that is worth watching, and most teams are good enough to have at least some chance to advance deep into the tournament. The only people who seem to be calling for the change are the coaches and officials who can profit off of it, while viewers have shown only absolute love for the tournament, just the way it is. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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