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March Madness is officially upon us with the First Four round kicking off on Tuesday. In one of those opening night matchups, we saw a hungry Colorado State bunch absolutely dominate third-place ACC finisher Virginia to the tune of a 25-point blowout.
If Tom Izzo had it his way, the Rams might never have gotten the chance.
The Michigan State head coach apparently wants to take the fun out of the biggest spectacle in college sports by eliminating automatic bids for mid-major conferences.
Tom Izzo says autobids for mid-Majors has “got to be looked at seriously” because “while everybody likes the upsets in the first round I’m not sure if that’s true as it goes on.” Also agrees w/Pitino that more former coaches/players should be on selection committee.
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That means fewer upsets from the Cinderella stories that steal America’s hearts.
The task is already tall enough for strong mid-major groups who might lose out on a Big Dance appearance with one misstep in the conference tournament. Do we really want to cut that field even further to make room for a 17-15 Indiana team just because they’re in a power league?
Mid-majors are an exciting part of March Madness, and often are as talented as the Power teams they face despite a perception of playing in less competitive leagues.
The Mountain West, who was snubbed in the eyes of many this year in regard to seeding, saw six teams invited to the Big Dance – one of whom was the Colorado State squad mentioned earlier.
And speaking of the Virginia team that the Rams beat – Tony Bennett’s bunch has now lost to CSU, Furman, Ohio, and UMBC (as a No. 1 seed) over its last five appearances. Izzo’s plan would’ve eliminated those matchups before being played on the floor.
As for mid-major powers we currently see like Gonzaga, they might never have gotten to that level had auto-bids been removed in previous years. While the Bulldogs became a perennial championship contender under Mark Few, they had to build a program by winning their conference and entering the NCAA Tournament as a lower seed before gaining that national notoriety.
Last year’s tournament was the perfect example a closing gap between the Power and Mid-Major leagues.
Mid-major San Diego State played in the national championship game after beating mid-major FAU in the Final Four. Both won their respective league tournaments to land an auto-bid, which goes to show what strong teams can do when given the chance regardless of conference affiliation.
Tom Izzo is off on this one, and college basketball followers were quick to let him know.
“I can’t believe Tom Izzo, who hasn’t had anything better than a 7-seed since the pandemic, would be in favor of getting rid of mid-major auto-bids.”
“Gonzaga is a mid-major. What about the runs of Loyola and Butler? VCU? Davidson? March Madness needs to stay as it is.”
“Virginia lost last night by 25 points to a mid-major.”
The NCAA Tournament is perfect how it is. We should probably focus less on watering the postseason down with mediocre Power teams, and more on embracing the excitement we currently get to enjoy.
Of course, Izzo’s bunch would likely benefit from his theorized scenario as Michigan State has been closer to a bubble team than not over the last five seasons. Since 2020, the Spartans have been a seven-seed or worse in each of the last four brackets.
That includes a play-in game in 2021 and a highly debated inclusion as a nine-seed this year.
Everyone enjoys seeing the blue bloods in the field, and Izzo’s bunch could certainly make another run this season. Most college basketball fans want to see the little guys have a chance, too.