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Here's why the First Four didn't include play-in games between only 16-seeds.
While the real excitement of the men's NCAA tournament technically starts on Thursday, games begin on Tuesday with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. Before the tournament expanded to 68 teams in 2011, there used to be a single opening-round game between No. 16 seeds just to get in the actual tournament.
But with the enhanced TV deal with Turner Sports and CBS that was set to start back in 2011, the NCAA worked to take a different approach with the First Four. The NCAA could have easily had the worst eight automatic qualifiers play in the First Four, but fans wouldn't have been too excited about watching 16-seeds play over two days. So, the NCAA settled on the format we see today: The lowest four automatic qualifiers and the lowest four at-large teams head to Dayton.
The why really comes down to TV — including power conference teams makes for more compelling matchups. This was from ESPN in 2010 : Other options discussed during the committee's meeting in Chicago the last week of June were: the last eight automatic qualifiers -- the Nos. 16 and 17 seeds -- playing against each other for the right to be the 16th seeds; and making the last eight at-large teams playing for specific seed lines.
The compromise was this hybrid model which Guerrero said evolved out of many discussions with committee members and among the NCAA Division I membership. "There was no consensus," Guerrero said. "We selected a format that will break new ground.