The NCAA is poised to expand the men's basketball tournament from 65 to 68 teams starting next year after reaching a 14-year, $10.8 billion television rights deal with CBS and Turner Broadcasting that will allow every game to be shown live on one of four networks.
This means that game will be shown on CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV starting next March.
I really like this expansion, much more so than the proposed 96-team tournament.
Helluva alot better than 96 teams
THANK THE BASKETBALL GODS!!!!!!!!! Oh this is great news. This is exactly what I was hoping for. This even gives some of the teams that will never have a shot the chance to get a NCAA tourney win. Excellent decision by the NCAA>
Great decision by the NCAA. This will draw more people to watch the tournament and at the same time give more teams chances to pick up some wins.
now this is a whole lot better then 96 teams
I like this! I mean that is 4 play in games for all the #1 seeds! I stated this a few months ago that i would like to see this happen...Glad it wasnt 96
Having four play-in games is just as stupid as playing 1 play-in game. Why would we want to see more teams with no chance to in a first round game. It's not like these games will be played by the better teams that go to the NIT. These games will still be played by the little conference teams with 8 wins that made the tournament anyhow. What this does is give a team like this years Dayton or UC a spot in the tournament, but they will be seeded in the top 15, not 16 & 17.
I think it helps with some teams that gets snub every year to get into the tournament. Saint Mary's last year, and some teams that should have gotten in will get a better chance. A win in a play in game is a NCAA tournament win whether you like it or not.
I think they should have just stayed at 64 teams.
great decision hope it pans out
Stardust Wrote:Having four play-in games is just as stupid as playing 1 play-in game. Why would we want to see more teams with no chance to in a first round game. It's not like these games will be played by the better teams that go to the NIT. These games will still be played by the little conference teams with 8 wins that made the tournament anyhow. What this does is give a team like this years Dayton or UC a spot in the tournament, but they will be seeded in the top 15, not 16 & 17.
:Thumbs:
Jarons Wrote:I think they should have just stayed at 64 teams.
:Thumbs:
Stardust Wrote:Having four play-in games is just as stupid as playing 1 play-in game. Why would we want to see more teams with no chance to in a first round game. It's not like these games will be played by the better teams that go to the NIT. These games will still be played by the little conference teams with 8 wins that made the tournament anyhow. What this does is give a team like this years Dayton or UC a spot in the tournament, but they will be seeded in the top 15, not 16 & 17.
:Thumbs:
Adding three more teams that have no chance of winning will not make it a better tournament. In fact, forcing 16-seeds to play an extra game just reduces the odds of any of them upsetting a #1 seed. A tournament that includes 64 teams would include every team that has any chance whatsoever of winning a title. Anything beyond 64 teams is a farce.
I like 68 better than 96. Maybe Mississippi State would have been in the field as they should have been this year.
bulldog149 Wrote:I like 68 better than 96. Maybe Mississippi State would have been in the field as they should have been this year.
I agree that Mississippi State should have been in the NCAA tourny. But I dont think they should have been in the play-in game. But I know what your saying.
SD it shouldbe 64 or 68 teams...not just 65 teams
I love this...having 4 play in games to me is going to be amazing for it lets the best four 16 seeds play the one seeds...I hope that they never expand any bigger for I think that would destroy the tourney but really like this decision
Crazy Horse Wrote:I love this...having 4 play in games to me is going to be amazing for it lets the best four 16 seeds play the one seeds...I hope that they never expand any bigger for I think that would destroy the tourney but really like this decision
I think its just the NCAA wanting more money!
Well, I must say I'm fairly pleased with the decision to go to 68 teams. This is a whole heck of a lot better than the asinine idea to expand to 96, let's hope they never do that.
Honestly, I would rather they did this than stick with 65 like they had been the last several years. 65 is a stupid number for a tournament, and having one play-in game made the tournament unbalanced, not to mention the fact that one #1 seed played an opponent on short rest while the others did not. At least now the bracket has some semblance of balance.
Ideally, the tournament should have been contracted back to 64 teams, the perfect number. But that was as likely to happen as Rick Pitino joining a monastery, so this was the next best option.
64 > 68 > 65 >>>>>>>> 96
More Cowbell Wrote:Well, I must say I'm fairly pleased with the decision to go to 68 teams. This is a whole heck of a lot better than the asinine idea to expand to 96, let's hope they never do that.
Honestly, I would rather they did this than stick with 65 like they had been the last several years. 65 is a stupid number for a tournament, and having one play-in game made the tournament unbalanced, not to mention the fact that one #1 seed played an opponent on short rest while the others did not. At least now the bracket has some semblance of balance.
Ideally, the tournament should have been contracted back to 64 teams, the perfect number. But that was as likely to happen as Rick Pitino joining a monastery, so this was the next best option.
64 > 68 > 65 >>>>>>>> 96
Completely agree with that. I do not know why they ever wanted to mess with it but then again the dollar is the main motivation here. So I would say that this buys the NCAA tourney another 10 years or so before talk of another expansion begins again.