USA Today: Expansion to 96 team tournament "probable"

[EPJr]

Support has grown to the point that Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delany, a former chairman of the committee that oversees the tournament and a critic of large-scale expansion, sees a move from 65 to 96 teams as likely, he said Tuesday.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ ... sion_N.htm

[TheDancinMonarch]

So that's 31 more teams. Let's see that 5 from the Big East, 4 from the ACC, etc., etc., and the 2 extra mid-major programs will play each other in the first round. Sounds like a plan to me.

[dbackjon]

So that's 31 more teams. Let's see that 5 from the Big East, 4 from the ACC, etc., etc., and the 2 extra mid-major programs will play each other in the first round. Sounds like a plan to me.

Most likely it would guarantee regular season as well as tourney champs auto-bids. So a conference like the Big Sky would have gotten two in.

[Grizalltheway]

So that's 31 more teams. Let's see that 5 from the Big East, 4 from the ACC, etc., etc., and the 2 extra mid-major programs will play each other in the first round. Sounds like a plan to get every single Big East team in to me.

FIFY

[collegesportsinfo]

So that's 31 more teams. Let's see that 5 from the Big East, 4 from the ACC, etc., etc., and the 2 extra mid-major programs will play each other in the first round. Sounds like a plan to me.

Most likely it would guarantee regular season as well as tourney champs auto-bids. So a conference like the Big Sky would have gotten two in.

Let's hope not. It's bad enough that a top 40 RPI team like Rhode Island was left out (and should have based on the number of spots) while teams like ETSU and Arkanas-Pine Bluff are in. But if anything, 96 will allow the top teams to get in. Not flukes like if Kennesaw St. beat regular season champ USC-Upstate and BOTH (while ranked below 300 overall) get in.

The WCC has a tournament system that works: top 2 seeds AUTOMATICALLY in the conference semi-finals. They are protected. The other lower conferences should all adopt the same system to help themselves. It makes much more sense then rewarding teams for losing their way in at the expense of a deserving team in the top 50.

[collegesportsinfo]

So that's 31 more teams. Let's see that 5 from the Big East, 4 from the ACC, etc., etc., and the 2 extra mid-major programs will play each other in the first round. Sounds like a plan to me.

It does. It's so those boosters at those schools keep donating money to a program that got into the tournament.

Many of those schools do deserve to be in, there just isn't room. Right now, Northwestern is penalized for being in a strong Big Ten. If they were in the Patriot, they'd be the best team. Yet Lehigh is in the tournament. Same goes for the SEC. Mississippi is out, meanwhile not far away, Arkansas-PB is in...just because Arkansas-PB is in an inferior basketball conference compared to the SEC.

As an A10 fan, it would mean similar...we'd have had 4 more teams in, a total of 7 of 14 members.

The only real positive I see for fans is that there will be an increase in upsets which the networks (currently CBS) likes.

UNC was an NIT #4 seed...which means they'd have been a #16 seed in a 86 team scenario. If they beat ETSU in the first round, they'd then have gone on to play #1 seed Kentucky. Let's face it: a #16 UNC team will have a better chance of upsetting a #1 Kentucky team than ETSU did.



BTW, I'm not a fan of expansion to 96. I perfer 68 so that 3 more bubble teams get in. And I actually like the NIT...which will be gone.

[griz37]

Worst idea ever!

[ASUG8]

Assuming this isn't an April Fool's thingy, why don't we just hand out participation trophies to every team. Then have a big circle of kumbaya afterwards to celebrate the season.

[SDHornet]

Most likely it would guarantee regular season as well as tourney champs auto-bids. So a conference like the Big Sky would have gotten two in.

Let's hope not. It's bad enough that a top 40 RPI team like Rhode Island was left out (and should have based on the number of spots) while teams like ETSU and Arkanas-Pine Bluff are in. But if anything, 96 will allow the top teams to get in. Not flukes like if Kennesaw St. beat regular season champ USC-Upstate and BOTH (while ranked below 300 overall) get in.

The WCC has a tournament system that works: top 2 seeds AUTOMATICALLY in the conference semi-finals. They are protected. The other lower conferences should all adopt the same system to help themselves. It makes much more sense then rewarding teams for losing their way in at the expense of a deserving team in the top 50.

I think a possible solution would be to eliminate the notion that ALL teams get an invite to their conference tournament. The Sky only takes the top 6 of 9, which adds value to the regular season imo. If this were somehow able to be enforced across the board, it would eliminate the terrible teams that get hot for a short stretch in the conference tourney. I'm not a fan of having a field of 96, but I guess this move was inevitable. Say goodbye to all the other post-season tournaments.

[FargoBison]

Not a fan but this was going to happen eventually. My only concern is what happens to the guarantee conference champs got from the NIT? I know a lot of coaches liked at least having that in their backpocket because anything can happen in the conference tournament.

I think at the very least the NCAA should guarantee that any regular season conference champ with an RPI below 100 gets in. Regular season champs that field competitive teams should be rewarded.

[bluehenbillk]

This idea is like throwing up in your own mouth. Makes the regular season almost worthless. I hope if they do this, and I know they won't have the sack to, but make a provision that you have to have a .500 or better conference record. Otherwise, what's to prevent 12 or 13 Big East teams making a 96-team field??? Don't get me wrong, I love the Big East but, 96 is too much. Worse, this paves the way for 128 in the next decade.

[putter]

This idea is like throwing up in your own mouth. Makes the regular season almost worthless. I hope if they do this, and I know they won't have the sack to, but make a provision that you have to have a .500 or better conference record. Otherwise, what's to prevent 12 or 13 Big East teams making a 96-team field??? Don't get me wrong, I love the Big East but, 96 is too much. Worse, this paves the way for 128 in the next decade.

That is an excellent point. UNC may play in the ACC but if they can't finish with a winning record in conference then they should not be rewarded with a tourney invite. So what if a few Mid-Major teams would get an at-large over a BCS conference sub .500 team. Allows the OOC and regular season to keep some legitamacy.

[collegesportsinfo]

Let's hope not. It's bad enough that a top 40 RPI team like Rhode Island was left out (and should have based on the number of spots) while teams like ETSU and Arkanas-Pine Bluff are in. But if anything, 96 will allow the top teams to get in. Not flukes like if Kennesaw St. beat regular season champ USC-Upstate and BOTH (while ranked below 300 overall) get in.

The WCC has a tournament system that works: top 2 seeds AUTOMATICALLY in the conference semi-finals. They are protected. The other lower conferences should all adopt the same system to help themselves. It makes much more sense then rewarding teams for losing their way in at the expense of a deserving team in the top 50.

I think a possible solution would be to eliminate the notion that ALL teams get an invite to their conference tournament. The Sky only takes the top 6 of 9, which adds value to the regular season imo. If this were somehow able to be enforced across the board, it would eliminate the terrible teams that get hot for a short stretch in the conference tourney. I'm not a fan of having a field of 96, but I guess this move was inevitable. Say goodbye to all the other post-season tournaments.

i like it! no reason all the teams need to be in the conference tourney.

[collegesportsinfo]

This idea is like throwing up in your own mouth. Makes the regular season almost worthless. I hope if they do this, and I know they won't have the sack to, but make a provision that you have to have a .500 or better conference record. Otherwise, what's to prevent 12 or 13 Big East teams making a 96-team field??? Don't get me wrong, I love the Big East but, 96 is too much. Worse, this paves the way for 128 in the next decade.

So you're saying that a Georgia Tech team that finished 7-9 in a tough ACC (23-12 overall) should be left out of the tournament in favor of Liberty team that finished 10-8 (15-16 overall) in the Big South?

It's a fun notion, but it's pointless to penalize a team like Georgia Tech just because they happen to play in a conference that is on another level than the Big South, MEAC, A-sun, SWAC, etc.

If this were the case, a team like GTech might as well move to the A-Sun where they could dominate and ensure they are over .500.

Note that in most cases now, it's a rare exception that a team under .500 in conference even makes the tournament. But it seems wrong to reward teams in scrub conferences just because they finish over .500 in them, when they would likely be 0-16 in the ACC.

[collegesportsinfo]

This idea is like throwing up in your own mouth. Makes the regular season almost worthless. I hope if they do this, and I know they won't have the sack to, but make a provision that you have to have a .500 or better conference record. Otherwise, what's to prevent 12 or 13 Big East teams making a 96-team field??? Don't get me wrong, I love the Big East but, 96 is too much. Worse, this paves the way for 128 in the next decade.

That is an excellent point. UNC may play in the ACC but if they can't finish with a winning record in conference then they should not be rewarded with a tourney invite. So what if a few Mid-Major teams would get an at-large over a BCS conference sub .500 team. Allows the OOC and regular season to keep some legitamacy.

Or just eliminate the conference tournaments. At worst, set them up like the WCC so the top 2 teams start in the semi-finals. If neither 1 or 2 can win 2 games in a row in their conference tourney, they probably don't deserve to be in the NCAa tournament.

[JALMOND]

That is an excellent point. UNC may play in the ACC but if they can't finish with a winning record in conference then they should not be rewarded with a tourney invite. So what if a few Mid-Major teams would get an at-large over a BCS conference sub .500 team. Allows the OOC and regular season to keep some legitamacy.

Or just eliminate the conference tournaments. At worst, set them up like the WCC so the top 2 teams start in the semi-finals. If neither 1 or 2 can win 2 games in a row in their conference tourney, they probably don't deserve to be in the NCAa tournament.

But then you're messing with tradition. Tradition is big in college sports. It is why the FBS still has a bowl system and no playoffs.

[JayJ79]

But then you're messing with tradition. Tradition is big in college sports. It is why the FBS still has a bowl system and no playoffs.

Partially tradition,
but also boatloads of cash.

Which is also the reason for expanding the tournament: to make more money

[EPJr]

So that's 31 more teams. Let's see that 5 from the Big East, 4 from the ACC, etc., etc., and the 2 extra mid-major programs will play each other in the first round. Sounds like a plan to me.

Most likely it would guarantee regular season as well as tourney champs auto-bids. So a conference like the Big Sky would have gotten two in.

unless the same team wins both - then you get one

[BDKJMU]

96 teams doesn't make as much sense as 128. 64x2=128. If they're going to do an extra round, might as well make it 128.

[EPJr]

96 teams doesn't make as much sense as 128. 64x2=128. If they're going to do an extra round, might as well make it 128.

..with 96 the higher seeds don't have to play a extra game

[Fresno St. Alum]

I wish 96 team format would follow the NIT's rule about letting all regular season champs in. So Lipscomb, C.Carolina, Stony Brook could have gotten in as a 24 seeds. The mock 96 they had today on cbssportsline had W&M, VCU, Northeastern, Illinois St., Portland getting in but it was mainly more shitty big time schools like NC, Cincinnati, Nevada etc...

I wonder if this will make conference tournaments pointless, at least at the FBS level schools minus the Sun Belt & MAC. Are they going to scrap them on the top end now?
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... ist_footer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[dbackjon]

I wish 96 team format would follow the NIT's rule about letting all regular season champs in. So Lipscomb, C.Carolina, Stony Brook could have gotten in as a 24 seeds. The mock 96 they had today on cbssportsline had W&M, VCU, Northeastern, Lehigh, Portland getting in but it was mainly more shitty big time schools like NC, Cincinnati, Nevada etc...

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... ist_footer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That has been discussed - Regular season champs if they don't win the tourney.



Since when is Nevada a big time school??

[Fresno St. Alum]

I wish 96 team format would follow the NIT's rule about letting all regular season champs in. So Lipscomb, C.Carolina, Stony Brook could have gotten in as a 24 seeds. The mock 96 they had today on cbssportsline had W&M, VCU, Northeastern, Lehigh, Portland getting in but it was mainly more shitty big time schools like NC, Cincinnati, Nevada etc...

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... ist_footer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That has been discussed - Regular season champs if they don't win the tourney.



Since when is Nevada a big time school??

They're FBS in a conf. that gets 4 teams out of 9 under the new rule. big time enough is FBS minus MAC & SBelt, plus MVC & A10

[Fresno St. Alum]

I wish 96 team format would follow the NIT's rule about letting all regular season champs in. So Lipscomb, C.Carolina, Stony Brook could have gotten in as a 24 seeds. The mock 96 they had today on cbssportsline had W&M, VCU, Northeastern, Lehigh, Portland getting in but it was mainly more shitty big time schools like NC, Cincinnati, Nevada etc...

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... ist_footer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That has been discussed - Regular season champs if they don't win the tourney.



Since when is Nevada a big time school??

Has the NCAA said they'll take the regular season champ if they don't win the conf tourney? At 96

[Skjellyfetti]

If the regular season champ thing is true... that really sucks.

The NCAA tournament should go back to taking the winner of every conference tourney... and that's it. No at large teams.