Expansion to 96 a go?

[goblue12]

Looks like it's the inevitable at this point in time.

[eatdust11]

Yuck... don't mess with it... there aren't 96 deserving teams each year.

[LT Profits]

May see 96 next season, or may see 80.

[THA_DIESEL]

Great, now NCAA committee please save a spot for the Huskies women basketball team.

Good day.

[nebraskasux]

Great, now NCAA committee please save a spot for the Huskies women basketball team.

Good day.

Yeah, and watch them get beat 120-15 by the 96th seed

[THA_DIESEL]

Yeah, and watch them get beat 120-15 by the 96th seed

Hey, if COMPETITION is what they want, then give it to them!



Enough with playing in the women's tournament where every game they are favored by 40 or 50 and win each game by 60 points.

[Regul8er]

Looks like brackets will be a thing of the past. Don't think anyones going to be able to print off a bracket with 96 teams fitting on one page. Without the bracket, the NCAA probably loses 60% of its viewing audience.

[patswin]

stupid move in my opinion

[tblues2005]

I think in someways it is a good idea and someways it is not a good idea. It will get all conference champions in the regular season in the big dance and that is a good thing. That is an awful lot of teams though and that seems to be a problem for some.

[knicksb4chicks]

stupid...making brackets will be ridiculously hard lol

[BiffTFinancial]

the good news is that Jim Delany is the source, and as a Big Ten apologist, i can tell you that Delany saying it will expand next year is the equivalent of 80% of the public being on a side and the line moving the opposite way.

it will expand eventually, and it's a shame that the greatest event in sports will be diminished. not ruined, but diminished. there will no longer be a first Thursday (aka Secular Christmas) to kick it off. i will still skip work the first two days, but it won't be quite the same. also agree that expansion ruins the bracket, which is what brings the casual fan in during March. all of this so that we can let in another 32 teams who have no chance to win the title. you can always count on the NCAA to cut off its nose to spite its face.

[TheAccountant]

Why don't we just cancel the regular season and put every team in the country in one big tournament..right..

This exapnsion idea is garabage in my opinion..

[ji03]

Expansion is a bad idea. By expanding you are just watering down the product by including mediocre teams in the ncaa tournament. I don't know what type of TV ratings a 1st round match up between a 9 and 24 seed would get, but apparently the NCAA thinks it will make more money by expanding, but I hope it stays the way it is.

[floridagolfer]

Just about anyone who cares about the tournament knows it's a terrible idea with no redeeming value. Unfortunately, this is just another instance of someone thinking they can make more money and nothing else in the world matters. I think it would be the greatest thing in the world if the NCAA OK'd an expansion and then the TV networks offered less money than the tournament now provides.

[suckerforparlays]

I wouldnt mind it if every single TV Network got to show games instead of just one network. Put games on CBS,NBC,ABC,ESPN,ESPN 2, Versus, and Fox. Be a hole lot nicer

[goblue12]

I'm assuming that they will merge the NIT and Big Dance into one, meaning every regular season champion of the smaller conferences that lays an egg in the tournament still gets in.

Autobid pool could range from 31 to 62 teams.

[TheAccountant]

This idea seems to have about zero support from fans (based on the very scientific evidence of me asking random people) but its just about a lock. NCAA officials seem to be making no bones about the fact that this is going to happen solely for monetary reasons. Doesn't really seem like long term thinking to me...

[Wrigley]

if it aint broke dont fix it

[extenzeuser]

this sounds stupid as hell

[spud58]

yesssss

[Art Vandeleigh]

Looks like brackets will be a thing of the past. Don't think anyones going to be able to print off a bracket with 96 teams fitting on one page. Without the bracket, the NCAA probably loses 60% of its viewing audience.

Interesting post, incredible as it may seem you may be right.