Expanding the NCAA tourneys: Don’t let it ruin your day
The sports socials reached remarkable levels of agreement last week on a very touchy issue:
Expanding the NCAA basketball tournament to 76 teams.
Basically the First Four has become the First 12. Instead of four play-in games held a couple days before the real event begins, there will be 12 — six on each day, starting next year.
The complaints were predictable, usually something like, “The NCAA Tournament was perfect the way it was,” or “Nobody asked for this.”
Both statements may be true, but this expansion really isn't so bad. What is the best part of the NCAA Tournament? It's the first two days, when there are roughly four games in every time slot.
Some games are blowouts, others are classics. Some fans get stuck at work for this, but at least modern technology allows for sneak peeks on phones.
Not sure how they plan to space out the First 12 games. Will some games be early starts? Could they do three simultaneous nighttime doubleheaders? The key ingredient here is more games increase the chances of memorable drama.
As it stands, the archive of great First Four moments feels pretty empty. Maybe this expanded format will change that, maybe it won't. Either way, not sure how this is some sort of giant negative.
Another question, will expansion give more mid-major schools a chance to experience the tournament, or will those slots go to 11th-place finishers in the SEC and Big Ten? Hopefully, it's a mix. The smaller schools deserve more opportunity.
This change also benefits the low seeds. Now all the 16 seeds and half the 15 seeds start with a game against a similarly-matched opponent, which has to be preferable to a one-and-done, 40-point loss against the best team in the country.
Why did the NCAA decide to fix something that wasn't broken? That's an easy one. More games creates more revenue. The NIT can be fun, but it's not as lucrative.
Money-grabs are everywhere these days, not just in sports. The question is how far can they push things before consumers can't keep up anymore?
Once a company makes a billion in profit, it feels like it needs to make two billion in the next quarter or the stock price will go down.
The NCAA and professional sports leagues are not publicly-traded stocks, but they've decided to latch on to the philosophy.
That's why the NBA playoffs are on two different streaming services, in addition to cable and network channels. It's why the NFL is pushing an for 18th game and international trips for every team, every year. It's why the NBA and MLB are talking expansion, despite a dearth of suitable cities.
The NBA will have 16 players making at least $50 million next season. Pro sports owners certainly aren't going broke. But everyone needs to realize the ceiling of what fans can tolerate is inching closer.