Did March sneak up on anyone else?
We have been enjoying the regular season so much that we kind of forgot it’s almost over. But the reality is, the first conference tournament bracket — thanks, Atlantic Sun — is already out. League titles are being clinched. The bubble is bubbling. All of the things!
But that means it’s time for one of our least favorite annual storylines: greedy, grubby fingers trying to wreck something that doesn’t need fixing.
1. NCAA Tournament expansion
On “College GameDay” two weekends ago, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported (almost unprompted) that while NCAA Tournament expansion talks are still ongoing, decision-makers “seem to be down the road” with a concept that would alter the best postseason in sports by growing the field from 68 teams to potentially 76.
“We should know fairly soon,” Thamel said. “Two, three months. Something like that.”
Mechanically speaking, what might going to 76 teams look like? An expanded First Four, per Thamel, with eight teams competing in Dayton — where the First Four is held annually — and eight more at another site to be determined (likely outside of the Eastern time zone, for logistical reasons).
Using The Athletic’s latest bracket prediction, let’s consider what this year’s field would look like with 76 teams. All of the following would be included, rather than sweating out their spots:
* Indiana (17-11), which already has announced coach Mike Woodson will be stepping down
* Wake Forest (19-9), which has one Top-25 win all season and has lost consecutive games to 11-17 NC State and 14-14 Virginia
* North Carolina (18-11), which is 1-10 in Quad 1 games with a single victory all season over a team currently thought to be in the field
* SMU (21-7), which has zero top-50 wins all season
* Plus Cincinnati, Xavier, Boise State, and TCU, which have combined to go 37-31 in their respective conferences with just two Top-25 wins
Other than SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who wants that?
Regarding Sankey, whose tenure has included going scorched earth on everything college sports hold dear in pursuit of cartoonish stacks of cash, it should surprise no one that Thamel said expansion conversations have been “driven by the power conferences.” Sankey even told The Athletic last spring that automatic bids for smaller conferences should be “part of the review” of the NCAA Tournament. Suffice it to say, it’s obvious how this is going to go: More mediocre high-major teams (like the ones above) will be included while deserving mid-majors get left out in the cold.
Which of these resumes is more deserving of making the Big Dance?
Reasonable arguments can be made for both sides. It’s a coin flip. Do you prefer the total wins and better Q1 record or the metric rankings? Time’s up. Team A is San Diego State, and Team B is Georgia. In The Athletic’s latest bracket, those two face off in this season’s…
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