Would you change March Madness?

[pseudonym]

Would you be in favor of improving the quality of basketball in March Madness by fielding the best 64 teams?

One possible format is conference tourney auto-bids qualify you for the NIT, not the NCAA tournament. There are 32 auto-bids. The NIT is 32 teams. Of course, some conference tourney winners will be selected for the Big Dance. The committee would select 64 teams for the Big Dance and teams 65+ would complete the NIT field as necessary.

The argument against is reducing cinderella stories like UMBC and Fairleigh Dickinson (two 16-seed wins in 152 tries). The current format also benefits the top seeds by (more or less) giving them a bye to the round of 32.

The argument for is better basketball. You could also argue there would be more "cinderella" runs later in the tournament (not just the first weekend). You might also argue that the NIT is a sufficient reward for a team outside the top-64 winning their conference tournament.

I know that it is politically impossible to change, but I also don't think if we were to start from scratch today we would arrive at the current format.

 

[aTotal360]

64 team, round robin, double elimination.

 

[MSUDC11-2.0]

Don’t change anything. We’re not even two years removed from the Saint Peters Peacocks in the Elite 8.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Well of course. Seed us in the final four and let the rest battle for the 3 remaining spots.

 

[mstateglfr]

do not change it. FGCU, peacocks last year with FAU, and all the other short-lived upsets that occur year after year make it fun.

 

[pseudonym]

Don’t change anything. We’re not even two years removed from the Saint Peters Peacocks in the Elite 8.

I'm curious what part of that needs to be preserved. The idea is that there would actually be more 15-seeds in the Elite Eight (and beyond) if we improve the overall field.

But instead of 15-seed Saint Peter's it would be 15-seed Florida. Or 15-seed Saint Louis. Or 15-seed VCU. Or 15-seed Mississippi State.*

Can you clarify that it is Saint Peter's (over the above schools) that needs be preserved? Honest question.

*-Those teams were 3-seeds in that year's NIT (roughly teams 57-60 in the eyes of the committee).

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Don’t change a thing. Those mid major conferences live for the chance to go to the tournament and it’s exciting to watch them go up against the big boys and sometimes win.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Cut the number of conferences down to about 20, maybe 24, and then just have 64 teams rather than 68.

But no significant changes, these would be fairly minor.

 

[patdog]

96 teams. Every conference gets 2 automatic bids, 1 for regular champion & 1 for tournament champion, and 1 guaranteed top 64 seed. If same team wins both, then next best team. First weekend runs from Wednesday through Monday. Get rid of the NIT.

 

[Del B Vista]

Drop the play-in junk and go back to 64 teams. All conferences get one automatic bid. The number of conferences is already decreasing. That's why increasing it when there was the jump a few years back was dumb.

 

[Perd Hapley]

Don’t really care. Back when “college” basketball didn’t totally suck, neither did the NCAAT. Now they are both crap.

 

[8dog]

The only reason anyone pays any attention to CBK is bc of the tourney and its format. It would die otherwise.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I don't understand you folks who want less games. I want more, expand bowl games, expand the playoffs, expand the NCAA tourney. The tourney is in a dead period for sports, I'd love to add another weekend to it.