Examining how NC State's ACC Tournament, Final Four run will affect NCAA Tournament expansion

The NC State Wolfpack are headed to the Final Four, continuing an amazing run that began during the ACC Tournament.

Following their win over Duke to capture the South Region of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Andy Staples and James Fletcher III linked up on Monday’s episode of On3’s Andy Staples On3 on YouTube to explain how the Wolfpack are having an impact on NCAA Tournament expansion talks.

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“I do want to ask you James, about the debate that we had going into the tournament, and I don’t think it was much of a debate among those of us who watch it and love it. It’s more of the people who run the sport,” Staples prefaced. “You had Greg Sankey talking about, maybe there needs to be more power conference team. Expand the tournament. The auto-bids take, kind of the blunt of the impact of that. NC State, I feel like is the best argument for keeping things the way they are.

“Because NC State is a power conference school that underachieved, but then caught lightning in a bottle in its conference tournament. Made that conference tournament — like, the ACC tournament was must-watch television, because of what NC State was doing. I don’t know if you — if you go into the 90s in terms of how many teams make it, I don’t know if you get that anymore.”

Fletcher III agreed with Staples’ sentiment, but he also sees the other side of the coin, and how the Wolfpack can be used in the argument for expanding the NCAA Tournament.

“You might or might not get it, at that point. But I do think, unfortunately or fortunately depending on however you want the bracket to look, Greg Sankey has probably, and his co workers who share his belief that they should expand, are probably going to point to NC State as a reason to expand, rather than a reason to keep the field where it is,” Fletcher III responded. “Because if you were ever going to look at a team and say, ‘See, this is why we have to expand it. What if they weren’t in the field?’ NC State is the team to do that with as well. Your point, I agree with. It made the ACC Tournament something more, to see NC State trying to get into the NCAA Tournament field, which they otherwise would have no chance to reach.

“Same thing with them running through the NCAA tournament. It means something more, because we know where they were entering this discussion. You know, when we see an eight seed or a nine seed make a run deep in the tournament, it doesn’t feel the same as when an 11 or 12 seed does it. But in terms of how that counteracts the dollar amount that they can get, from making that argument. I’m going to assume that’s probably what they’ll, whichever side ends up with more money in their pockets, is probably the one that they’re going to go into argue on the side of, because NC State is one where you can, you can use it to argue either side of the equation there.”

In response, Staples makes an interesting point, believing expanding the NCAA Tournament could cheapen the individual conference tournaments moving forward.

“The interesting thing about the money partners, I think they probably blunt how much money they can make off their own conference tournaments, if they do that, because you essentially do negate your conference tournament at that point,” Staples added. “Those are like — the SEC goes to Nashville. It’s a big money making event. The ACC was in DC this year. Then they move it around. Sometimes they’re in Brooklyn, sometimes they’re in Greensboro.

“I don’t know that you have as many people wanting to come to that event, which is a big moneymaker too. We shall see.”

Alas, it remains to be seen where the NCAA Tournament goes after 2024, but NC State’s magical run is going to have an effect either way, it seems.