Getty Image / Katharine
Growing up in the 2000s, March Madness was perfect. The tournament was 65 teams, with just one play-in game for two sixteen-seeds, and then the six rounds.
Yes, we had to wait from Selection Sunday until Thursday for games. But, that anticipation was part of the fun. Everyone was just waiting for games to start on Thursday, and all the talk revolved around it.
Now, with the tournament at 68 teams and there being four play-in games, it almost seems like the NCAA tournament starts too soon now, with name-brand teams sometimes playing as early as Tuesday night.
Now, the powers that be want to expand March Madness even more. Rumors have been to 96 or even 128 teams. I think pretty much every college basketball fan is in agreement that that would be entirely too many teams. There are not 96 teams that deserve to play in the Big Dance.
But, things are changing in college athletics, seemingly daily. The stakeholders are trying to squeeze every last dollar out of college athletics. Traditions, rivalries, etc are not the priority anymore.
Naturally, they want to squeeze as much as they can out of one of the biggest cash cows in college athletics, which is March Madness. Thankfully, it seems like they will not go overboard in expansion.
While last-minute pivots are never out of the question — especially when some of the people included in the conversations are already working on expanding the College Football Playoff bracket before it’s even played — a 72- or 76-team field seems the most likely outcome.
It no doubt will still be a bitter pill to swallow for traditionalists, but it may be the only realistic way to keep the tournament alive. Project Division I, NCAA president Charlie Baker’s new charge to reconsider the very framework of college athletics, includes several radical proposals, including the creation of a new FBS subdivision. College basketball administrators fear that, if the tourney is left untouched, it will inspire power conference schools to at least consider their own postseason. Fox already is creating a counter to the NIT.
I guess I can live with 72 or 76 teams. But, how about we go back to 64 or 65, when the tournament was at its peak?