Every year the NCAA Tournament comes around, the topic of the expansion of the 68-team playing field is almost always brought up. While this may improve the chances of more major programs joining in, it also poses the risk of smaller schools missing the chance to compete in the tournament.
Television analyst and former basketball player, Jay Williams, shared a hot take during his appearance on ESPN's First Take.
"Let's just expand the tournament. Let's just do 112 teams. The top 16 teams get a bye in the first round ... 96 games in six days. This way, let everybody get in. You're not paying attention to the first five, 30 games of the thing anyway," Williams said.
Fans were not in agreement with this, as the top comment said:
"There’s no way. It’s perfect at 68."
Here are a few other reactions:
ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg also quashed Williams' claim that no one watches the first few games.
"People are. Cause people gamble on it. There's a thing right here - the bracket. People are watching. Why do people go to the racetrack? They're looking for someone to crash."
"Why do people watch the opening round of the NCAA tournament? Because they are looking for someone to crash and burn. That's just the way the world lives."
NCAA is looking to increase the playing field
In July last year, the NCAA committee held discussions on a possible expansion to 90 teams. Per the recommendations by the DI transformation committee, it asked for allowing one-quarter of teams in bigger sports to compete in championship events. But it also added that no such change was imminent.
“Whether the tournament expands or not remains to be seen,” said Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball. (via AP)
The NCAA's TV deal, amounting to $8.8 billion, runs through 2032. This is the committee's biggest revenue source and even with an increased playing field, the resources to be shared between the member schools would remain the same.
Additionally, it would mean the regular season would have to start early in order to accommodate the extra games. That will pose a risk of college basketball clashing with football games.
Networks like CBS have already set their days for the March Madness broadcast and would be unwilling to move them.
For now, everything is still at a stage of discussions and observations. But what do you think of this possibility? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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