OT: The Dance - NCAA Men's Hoops Tournament - Expansion? What do you think?

If they were to do something like that. I'd just push back the start of March Madness by 1 week. 

Get rid of the play-ins we have now. Then you run a 1 week 16 team tournament for two #10 seeds. Top two teams get in, so there are only 3 games played. I think that would be much more exciting than the play-in games they have now.

It expands the field - but no one would want to be in the last group of 16 teams that have to go through a gauntlet just to make the primary tourney. 

Heard this on the podcast Pardon My Take and it changed the way I thought about tournament expansion. Make the actual tournament 64 teams. This makes it easy and straight-forward to follow and also ensures that making the tournament remains meaningful and the regular season isn't a large exercise in seeding arrangement for all but the very worst Power 5 teams (CoughMichiganCough).

However, you can expand beyond 64 before making the final cut and create a true play-in tournament that doesn't technically count as the tournament. So, you start with, for example, 56 qualifiers (AQs and deserving at-larges) and then create a tournament of 16, 24 (with byes) or 32 to get you the final 8 teams. You get knocked out and you officially never made the tournament and can go play the NIT (or whatever). I know this is largely form over substance but I do think it changes the way we'd all view expansion. Has the upside of giving everyone more exciting and meaningful basketball to watch (always a good thing) without watering down the actual tournament. 

If they can't accomplish it that way, I'm against expansion.

No. What's the point? And yes, that is a rhetorical question. Its always about more money. 

This reminds me of a scene from Silicon Valley. Amazing show on HBO a few years back, really funny, and a really smart one at that. Dinesh buys a stupidly expensive refrigerator that can talk to you in nice, personable ways, make grocery lists, scan expiration dates, etc. Gilfoyle remarks about how absolutely stupid of a purchase it was, and how stupid the concept of a talking refrigerator is to begin with. 

"This thing is addressing problems that don't exist. Its solutionism at its worst, and we're dumbing down machines which are inherently superior to us. The only thing this refrigerator needs to do is keep my f*****g beer cold." 

Same concept applies to expanding the tournament here. The NCAA is attempting to address a problem that does not exist. You're now getting into the territory of letting teams in that, frankly, have no business being in the tournament to begin with. You already have great ratings, you're already making tons of money off of it. What problem are you addressing, aside from the problem of "the only thing that's greater than $1 million is $2 million."

Saw an idea to take last 8 mid majors and last 8 power 5s and have them battle out to make tourney. I thought that would be worth expansion

I think Lunardi is silly and just wrote that for attention. 

A thousand times, no. It's already bad enough that 8+ teams from the same conference can get in now. I haven't seen any numbers to see if we've had a national champ that finished below fifth or sixth place in their conference, but I bet that number is miniscule. Expanding the field just puts more unqualified teams in the mix.

I'm all for it if they limit the extra teams to G5 conference teams. Just because 31-2 St. Jehoshaphat State lost it's tournament championship game to 15-16 McMichael's University doesn't mean the Fighting Jumpers should have to be relegated to the NIT. Let them in, man!

I don't feel the need to expand it, but I am sure that decision will be made by TV networks and not fans anyway.

Just another money grab that will dilute the sport that is already slowly being killed of all tradition and sanity. 

I had to google it, but 1 seeds are 150-2 all-time against 16 seeds (for a cool 98.67 win %).  IMO that would need to get a LOT more even before it's worth talking about adding even worse teams.  

The tournament needs the low seeds to be good enough for the high seeds to take them seriously in a single-elimination setting.  Going beyond 64 won't accomplish that, and the canary in the coal mine for that will be if 16 seeds start winning even 10% of the time.

Do away with conference tournaments and make it like high school-let everyone in. (not sure if I really think this is a good idea).

No. Expanding the tournament just allows in a bunch more high major schools that are 9-11 in their conference. They’d also probably force more 16 and 15 seed play in games, and that’s not fair to those schools. I like having the best one-bid leagues getting a 12 or 13 seed where they are a dangerous upset pick. I’d rather stay at 68 and have all four play in games be for the last four at large spots.

I've always been against it.  And still probably am.  But I will say: in 2024 and probably for 4+ years now, there is a lot more parity in the sport than there was in 1998.  The bubble these days has some quality teams fighting for a spot who get left out. Many mid-majors are now on an equal if not better footing than Power-5 conference programs.  The difference between some 8-9 seeds and say, the "last 8 out" is probably pretty minimal.  Allowing a few more teams in probably wouldn't water down the field much.

But, this is not a notion the NCAA even cares about.

Tournament is already watered down IMO

Absolutely fucking not

The forces milking sports for all its worth while watering down the product care not for my thoughts. How long before ads hit college uniforms?

I really appreciated this update. Traveling from out-of-state for my first time at Yost in nearly two decades, and that's for a guy who attended every home game as a student. Also: my first time bringing my wife.

FYI: I believe adjacent seats are still available behind either goal.

No, would only be a cash grab and lead to many undeserving teams to be included.