Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz reacts to college sports reporter Ross Dellenger’s report on Division I conference commissioners being presented with several models of a potential expanded field for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which could take effect as early as 2025-2026 season.
Video transcript
The NCAA is banking on the premise that there is no such thing as too much of a good thing as we now face the expansion of the NCAA basketball tournament.
Look, we’re already at 68.
We all know that.
Now it looks like four or eight teams will be added to get us to 72 or 76.
The interesting part of this is that the expansion will come in the form of likely games.
Then you will have more 1011 and 12 seeds fighting for their lives to get into the tournament.
Now I understand that everything is about money and at the end of the day we will watch all this, which means it is a good idea.
But does this devalue on some level what it really means to make it to the tournament?
I think all of us as fans want our favorite teams to find their way to the most exciting time in sports with March Madness.
But at any cost, sure, we have occasional upsets and upsets in the first round, which we all love, but let’s be realistic.
This expansion will not make any of the teams being added one step closer to actually winning a national championship.
It’s just being more disturbing and adding more drama.
I know I may be the only objector to more drama in anything and drama sells.
But at the end of the day, what the NCAA told us is that they trust no matter how many teams put into this, we will continue to watch.
