96 teams

[shocks02]

Just watching ESPNU and supposedly news reports are coming in saying that the NCAA tournament could be expanded to 96 teams as soon as March 2011.

[SB Shock]

http://www.statenews.com/index.php/blog/the_biz/2009/12/ncaa_tournament_moving_to_96_teams

http://www.sportingnews.com/college-basketball/article/2009-12-07/sbj-ncaa-tv-talk-about-expanding-hoops-tourney

The NCAA television deal ends in 2010. The NCAA want to go from CBS to Cable and up the teams to 96 because......they think they can increase their revenue.

Would add another week and top 32 teams would get a bye. Basically they will be combining the NCAA and NIT tournament.

[Txlen]

Makes room for more BCS schools. Is this going to be dubbed as the "NCAA's Coach's Relief Act"?

[1979Shocker]

http://www.statenews.com/index.php/b...ng_to_96_teams

http://www.sportingnews.com/college-basketball/article/2009-12-07/sbj-ncaa-tv-talk-about-expanding-hoops-tourney

The NCAA television deal ends in 2010. The NCAA want to go from CBS to Cable and up the teams to 96 because......they think they can increase their revenue.

Would add another week and top 32 teams would get a bye. Basically they will be combining the NCAA and NIT tournament.

Why stop at 96 teams? If they want to increase their revenue, they should let every team in.

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/ncaa_expands_march_madness_to

[shock-it-to-me]

Unbelievable. They can get 96 for basketball, and yet they can't get more that 2 for football.

[1972Shocker]

How would they handle first round bye?

Would the Top 32 seeds get 1st round bye's and the bottom 64 in effect have a play in round?

[shockerfan]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Aargh]

How would they handle first round bye?

Would the Top 32 seeds get 1st round bye's and the bottom 64 in effect have a play in round?

Yep, that's the way it would work.

They ALREADY have all the teams in. It's called conference playoffs for automatic bids.

I don't see this saving BCS coaching jobs. If the standard is watered down, it is just going to become necessary for the BCS coaches to make it to the round of 64. I guess more of them will have an opportunity to do that and the Selection Committee can probably set up the brackets to make sure it happens.

But, all you can call it is watered down, and I'm not that confident that revenues will go up by that much. It gives one or two more days of games and some of those games are going to be boring. The best teams available on the first day or two would be today's 9 seeds. The worst will be what would be 17 seeds in the current tournament. It's just going to be lower teams that beat the crap out of the bottom-dwelling conferences auto bids. That doesn't make for compelling watching.

[RoyalShock]

If they do this then they need to keep what they do with the NIT and give regular season conference champs an automatic bid. And it needs to exclude teams with losing conference records.

But we all know if this happens it will only benefit power conferences. That's how the NCAA works when they talk about money.

[ShockerFever]

This would be the STUPIDEST thing the NCAA could EVER do and that is saying A LOT.

Why fix something that isn't broken?


Good God, this would be retarded.

[ShockCity]

Absolutely idiotic thing to do...which means the NCAA will probably do it.

[SirShoxAlot]

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO!

:shock:

[Ashockalypse]

Stupid Ridiculous Suckup idea that will for that very reason probably be enacted. NCAA worst organization on the planet and proud of it.

[WuDrWu]

I PROMISE you this will get done and you will NEVER see anything but low and mid majors in the play-in round.


Oh there will be the occassional Butler that doesn't have to play the first round, but all this will do is consolidate the big money for the big schools.


The non BCS schools are now officially on life support.

[ShockerPrez]

Yeah, this isn't so that the Horizon league, or the MEAC, or the Sunbelt can have 2 teams in the tournament.

It's so that the bubble BCS conference team gets to play the Champion of the Horizon, Sunbelt, MEAC, et al in the first round, and hopefully dispatching said champion. Or better yet, all those champions just play with themselves in the first round and canibalize themselves before getting a shot at the big boys. So even if they win, they are on less rest, and thus decreasing the chance that the pantywaists at the top get embarrassed by these heathens.

But whatever the motive, it is not to bring about more 'fairness' you can bet your rear end on that one.