With the final four starting today, you would think over the last week the basketball world would be buzzing about the possible Cinderella story in Butler. However, there has been a lot of focus on a very unfortunate inevitability that will probably surface soon: the NCAA tournament expanding to 96 teams.
For those of you who don't follow college basketball. The National Champion is crowned from the NCAA tournament which invites 65 teams to play. First there is a 1 game play in for teams “64” and “65”. Then the rest of the tournament is broken down to the opening round, round of 32, sweet 16, elite 8, final four and the championship. The Bracket is broken into 4 divisions (that are supposedly geographic, but not really) and teams are ranked 1 to 16 in each bracket. If the tournament is expanded to 96 teams, then the first 8 teams in each quarter of the bracket will get a first round bye.
The issue here that 96 teams dilutes the playing field down to a level of mediocrity that is just not fun to watch. Teams get selected to the field of 65 from a combination of conference championships and then at-large bids. To get an at-large bid, a team has to play well in the beginning part of the year (non-conference) and then really play well in the conference. This new format basically says “Hey, we don't care about the regular season at all, (just about) everyone gets to play for the championship!”
This is where other leagues (including you NBA and NHL) should look at the major leagues. When only 4 teams from each league make the playoffs, it first shows that a high level of competition will be making the playoffs and it makes the playoff races more exciting. Its very hard making the 9 seed chasing the 8 seed for that final playoff spot seem exciting when both teams are most likely barely over .500, and that first team is almost a sure bet to lose to the number 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs.
MLB playoff format has shown how the Wild Card makes for an exciting last month of the season, and has a good chance of making it to the World Series. This is what the NCAA is about fall into. The conference tournaments right now are exciting because a bubble team can snatch up a bid and force someone else out. Once this 96 team format starts the NCAA will go from a playoff race that is exciting like the MLB to one that is like the NHL/NBA, where just about anyone with a winning record gets to play.
