The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is a well-oiled machine that draws thousands of fans and millions in revenue all while crowning a national champion. Every year, offices around the country participate in March Madness pools and furiously fill out brackets in hopes to win some spending cash.

That’s not to say the Big Dance couldn’t use some adjustments.

Four years ago, the NCAA increased the tournament field from 64 teams to 65. They added a “play in” game for the 64th spot. The game is played a couple days before the tournament starts and the winner gets a 16 seed and the right to face a number one. The game is hosted by the same regional site in which that bracket’s number one seed will play.

That’s a nice change, but it’s too small. We say make it even bigger.

Instead, on Selection Sunday, announce the one through 14 seeds in each regional. Then announce the seeds for the 16-team, “Play In.” The 16 teams would play for either a 15 or 16 seed and therefore earn the right to play a one or two seed. We’d capitalize on the event by holding it on two days, the Tuesday and Wednesday before the Big Dance starts on Thursday. The Play In would be held at a separate location, somewhere in the middle of the country, like St. Louis or Kansas City.

The teams playing for the 15 seeds would play on Tuesday, while the 16 seed contenders would play on Wednesday so they are forced to play on shorter rest in the Big Dance.

The only problems that could inevitably crop up are the selections of the sixteen teams. Therefore, the selection committee would have to use some criteria to fill these spots. First of all, no teams with records of .500 or lower could be selected. We don’t need to see the ninth-place team from the Big East just because they played in a tough conference. A .500 record is still mediocre and adding those teams would be a disservice. Instead, we’d ask the committee to look at teams from smaller conferences that had excellent regular seasons but were upended in their conference tournament and failed to get a bid.

Essentially, expanding the field to 72 teams would give eight more schools the opportunity to experience the tournament and reap the financial rewards that come with it. The television ratings would be there and the NCAA would make even more money. Plus, another city would get a financial boost in the middle of our national recession. This is a win-win proposition; it’s time to expand the field.

Tagged with: basketball tournament, kansas city, march madness, ncaa, ncaa men

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