These people calling for a 128-team field...

[dickiedawg]

Remind me of the folks in December calling for a playoff system in football.
This makes me sad, because the idea of a 128-team field is ridiculous, and I am all for a playoff system.
I'd like to think there's a realistic shot at football going to a playoff system at some point.

 

[RebelBruiser]

No need to expand the field. It already includes the top 40-45 teams in the country. You don't need anything more than that to determine a national champion. You go back and look at the statistics and almost every national champion has been a 1, 2, 3, or 4 seed. So basically if you aren't in the Top 16 teams, you aren't going to win it all anyway. Expanding the field would just add another game and give too many mediocre teams a chance.

 

[Goat Holder]

the less relevance the regular season plays. If people want to expand the playoff, they should shorten the regular season. Me personally, I think they should shorten the tourney to 48 teams with some automatic byes. Same with baseball.

 

[8dog]

its mostly coaches and former coaches looking for job security for themselves and their peers.

Where do we stop? 128? 150?

 

[patdog]

The regular season doesn't have any significance now. Expanding the field won't do anything to change that one way or the other. As you (or someone else) said, there aren't more than about 16 teams that are going to have a realistic chance of winning it all anyway.

 

[Woof Man Jack]

The regular season doesn't have any significance now.

I'd say Kentucky is in strong disagreement with that statement. Without the second half of their season, their *** would be planning for the NIT. They damn sure didn't earn a birth to the NCAA in Atlanta.

 

[Coach34]

the last 9 National Champions have all been in the top 15 RPI, and 7 of those have been in the top 10...therefore, there is no need to expand the field..the top teams are going to win it anyway

 

[ckDOG]

Basically, people are proposing 128 to help out who...VA Tech? Sure, they might belong in the tourney, but odds are, they will be one and done.

The point is - Yes, there may be a team or two that gets "left out" every year. But the chances of those teams doing anything significant in the tourney, as history shows us, is slim to none. You will have the same exact problem if the field is expanded to 128 - some teams will be "left out". But, those teams will be twice as ****** as the ones getting left out and still won't make any impact on the tourney. Expansion would be a terrible thing for something that, in my opinion, is the greatest and most exciting post-season event in all of American Sports, professional or collegiate. Leave it alone.</p>

 

[Stormrider81]

Boo hoo. Some teams get left out. Hold on while I shed a few tears for them. Every single teams knows pretty much what it takes to earn a bid. Those that fail to take care of business are just out of luck, plain and simple. There are always going to be teams left out, but I can't bring myself to feel sorry for teams that lose games they need when plenty of other teams step up to the challenge and earn their bids outright. This isn't a tournament for every border line good team in the nation. This is a tournament for the absolute best with a few on the fringe getting in. As Peaches pointed out, the only ones that have won it lately were the top teams anyway.

 

[patdog]

This isn't a tournament for every border line good team in the nation. This is a tournament for the absolute best with a few on the fringe getting in.

I disagree. A tournament for the absolute best with a few on the fringe getting in wouldn't have more than 40 teams at the most in it. And it would only have that many because you'd give 20 or so automatic bids to teams that would have no chance to win the tournament. We sure wouldn't be in a tournament like that. And neither would Arkansas or Kentucky.

 

[Stormrider81]

I should have said teams that without question earned their bids. You get a few teams that are questionable, in other words onces that could have gone either way. This is a tournament for the good teams, not teams that are occasionally good or might be good. In an effort to be fair they give conference tournament winners an automatic bid, but the at-large bids mostly go to teams we know for a fact earned it, teams we know are good. The last few at-large bids could be argued every single year, but what can you do? Expanding the field won't help. These teams know what it takes. It sucks being left out, but that's why you have to win the necessary games.

 

[patdog]

I agree that I have no sympathy for any team that gets left out, and that includes us back in 1999. Any team bitching about being left out could have gotten in if they'd won another game or two. My reasons for wanting to expand the tournament are to get more mid-majors in and to get the worst conferences a first round game they might at least have some chance in, and also to get a bid for conference champions who lose in their conference tournament. For example, in our bracket instead of UT-Arlington opening with Memphis, they'd open with Oregon.

Edited to add, I'm not calling for a 128 team field. I'm calling for a 96 team field, with the top 8 seeds in each region getting a first round bye. 128 teams is too many.

 

[Stormrider81]

</p>

 

[Todd4State]

why all these college basketball people feel the need to put all these mid-major teams in. Yeah, some are really good like Gonzaga, but how would the third or fourth place team in their conference do in a league like the SEC? We all know the answer to that. The media always adopts a team like Arizona State or Virginia Tech so that they have somethng to talk about.

Also, when was the last time a 16 beat a 1? Never. That tells me right there that they have enough teams in.

 

[patdog]

1. More games. The first weekend would last from Wednesday through Monday.

2. Better early round matchups. Instead of a thrilling Memphis - UT-Arlington matchup in the first round, we'd see Oregon - UT-Arlington in the first round. Still a very likely Oregon win, but at least there'd be a decent chance of seeing a competitive game and there'd be a chance for an upset. Memphis's first round game would be against somebody like 21-10 UMass. Again, still a very likely Memphis win but a much better game than against UT-Arlington.