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Much like everything in college sports these days, the NCAA Tournament appears set to get significantly worse in the near future in pursuit of the most money possible.
Recent reports suggest that both the men’s and women’s tournaments are set to expand from 68 to 76 teams starting next year, with power conferences aiming to get more of their teams into the big-money event.
The news has been met with seemingly unanimous backlash from fans, members of the media, and even some of the sport’s most prominent current head coaches.
“What I think makes the tournament special is the qualification for it,” UConn’s Dan Hurley told CBS Sports. “You don’t want the regular season to be rendered meaningless and to take away from November, December, January, February. The qualification process makes the regular season intense and pressure-packed.
“It should be a privilege to play in the tournament, not a right, and obviously, if it expands too much and you don’t have to have a real good season to make it, that would take away from the tournament. Does it get too big?”
Gonzaga’s Mark Few echoed those sentiments.
“I am adamantly opposed. It’s totally unnecessary,” Few said. “It’s the dumbing down of the regular season, which is sad.”
But it was Arkansas coach John Calipari who offered the best response. Calipari doesn’t like the proposed change either. However, he did offer a way to make it palatable.
John Calipari Says NCAA Tournament Should Reserve Spots For Smaller Conferences
Calipari believes, like most others, that the tournament is fine the way it is. But if it’s going to expand, he has a way to ensure that it remains fair to every program across the country.
“I am a big believer in the idea that if it’s not broke, don’t fix it, and I think that applies to the NCAA Tournament,” Calipari said. “Having said that, if we are to expand, my hope is that at least half the spots are held for non-Power Four teams. If they do that, we are making the decision for the right reasons. As someone who has been both David and won some, and Goliath and lost some, that’s what makes this tournament special. We can’t afford to lose that special piece of our sport.”
Of course, that won’t happen. Anybody paying attention knows that this is only happening because of the Power Four conferences. So the idea that those conferences would agree to reserve spots for others seems highly unlikely.
But it’s a great idea nonetheless, and one that the NCAA should highly consider if it doesn’t want to continue to alienate fans.