[blwall1416]

“It’s a done deal with the expansion of the tournament. Depending on how soon a (TV) deal is done, the added teams could start next year. The NCAA confirmed that bidders would be interested in 96 teams, so they’re going with it.”

[Schfourteenteen]

link?

[olldflame]

Anyone know if all of those extra bids would be at large?

[BJWilliams]

Theyd have to be...they already have an autobid for every DI basketball conference

[Schfourteenteen]

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/64263

But the potential expansion of the NCAA tournament has support in collegiate circles, particularly from college basketball coaches. The idea talked about with TV networks would likely take it from its current field of 65 teams to 96 teams and add another week to the competition, with the top 32 teams receiving byes. The move has been characterized as folding the NIT into the NCAA tournament.

The NCAA clearly expects that the added week of games would significantly increase the tournament’s rights fee. A larger field would mean more content, more scheduling opportunities and theoretically more revenue for the broadcaster and the NCAA, which derives more than 90 percent of its total annual revenue from the tournament’s media deal. Nearly all of that revenue passes through the NCAA and is distributed to its member institutions.

This was published in December.

[ATrain]

Theyd have to be...they already have an autobid for every DI basketball conference

I think one would become an autobid at some point, depending on how the Great West holds together.

[TDDance234]

I heard rumors awhile ago that if they went to a 96-field tourney, they would give the regular-season conference champion (in leagues where the autobid isn't determined by a conference tournament) an autobid as well.

[LUconn]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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Awful idea. I'm in favor of going back to 64 and getting rid of the play in. Seriously, 96 is like 30% of DI teams

[Hold My Own]

Say hello to Cinderella....going to be a lot every year if they go through with this

[LUnpretty11]

This is going to really hurt the NIT and CIT and whatever IT's are out there. From a fan stand point, not a good idea at all. From a small school/money stand point, it's a dream come true.

[olldflame]

What I was thinking is give an autobid to every regular season and tournament champion and fill in the remainder of the field with at large bids. The schools who now get autobids to the NIT would go to the NCAA instead. It would mean a different number of auto bids each year, depending on how many regular season champs also won their tourney. It would also mean small conferences could sometimes get 2 bids instead of having every team from the Big East in as an at large.

[blwall1416]

link?

Its a Sports By Brooks link, which can't be accessed at LU.

[soccer7]

This wont help it will hurt the cinderellas. By the time thy get to a game that truly matters...past the first two rounds...the players will be spent. Remember that most cinderellas dont have that depth the big boys do. This tourny is a grind mentally and physically.

[jcmanson]

There would be no more NIT if this happened

[Schfourteenteen]

Say hello to Cinderella....going to be a lot every year if they go through with this

I dont think it will happen any more than it does now. The top 32 teams get a bye.

[olldflame]

It would be almost like having 32 play-in games. Lots of teams will get their first NCAA wins ever.

[thepostman]

extending it by a week sounds good to me...its like combining the nit with the ncaa tourney and making it mean something...i like it

[LUconn]

It pretty much makes the regular season pointless for traditionally decent teams. Just don't suck too bad and you're in.

[ToTheLeft]

I've always been a fan of bigger playoffs. This will make the tourney that much more fun.

Brackets will be a pain in the butt, tho.

[ATrain]

I heard rumors awhile ago that if they went to a 96-field tourney, they would give the regular-season conference champion (in leagues where the autobid isn't determined by a conference tournament) an autobid as well.

There's only one league like that already, the Ivy, and their regular season champ already gets an autobid.

[TDDance234]

I heard rumors awhile ago that if they went to a 96-field tourney, they would give the regular-season conference champion (in leagues where the autobid isn't determined by a conference tournament) an autobid as well.

There's only one league like that already, the Ivy, and their regular season champ already gets an autobid.

The way I heard it explained is--take the Big South for example. Let's say Coastal wins the regular season but loses in the first round of the conference tournament. They would get the auto-bid for winning the regular season and whoever won the conference tourney would win another auto-bid.

[horrez]

While they won't come out and say it, what this will really do is give every school in the Big East, ACC, SEC... an "auto-bid". Sure, they might throw a bone to a small conference, but this isn't really going to open up the tournament to Big South teams. If the regular season champ doesn't win the conference tournament then it will help. But if the regular season champ does win the conference tournament... then the Big South will still be a one-bid conference.

Of course the coaches like this. It gives them more chances to say they've taken a team to the Big Dance. It gives them more at-large bids to get (of course, "at-large" means you didn't take care of your business and win your conference). The only good that will come from this is now I won't have to hear some Big East coach cry like a baby when his (under .500 in the conference) team doesn't get the invite they "earned" to the NCAA Tournament. What this move will do is kill what's left of the good conference tournaments.

I wish it would go back to 64 (or even whatever it was before that).

[olldflame]

If all of the additional 32 slots were made at large, what horrez said would be true. There would be years when virtually every team from some of the power conferences would go, and it wouldn't help lower level mid-majors like the BSC at all. The more I think about it, I think they'll do something to add additional auto bids.

[Innocent Bystander]

While they won't come out and say it, what this will really do is give every school in the Big East, ACC, SEC... an "auto-bid".

If they expand to 96, they have to put a cap on how many teams can come from one conference. Maybe require a team to finish in the top half of the conference standings...if you're the 10th best team in the Big East, do you really have any right to be playing for a national title? If they put a cap like that in and allow regular season conference champs an autobid...then I would not be opposed to this.

[ALUmnus]

This whole thing is just a horrible, horrible idea. This is a tournament for the best teams in the country to play for a national championship, not a friendly get-together where we all show up just to get along. 96 teams is just a monstrously ridiculous number for a tournament. NCAA, you already have the second greatest tournament in the world (after the World Cup), quit screwing with it.

Expansion waters things down and makes it a dull, low-quality mess, not more exciting. Sorry, but I don't want to see two Big South teams in the NCAA's, unless they're both excellent and earn it. Typically, not even one of our teams deserve it.