Expanding NCAA Tournament field to 76 games invites mediocrity to the Big Dance and ruins the bracket
There are only formalities now standing between the NCAA Tournament and a ruinous expansion plan advocated by a handful of conference commissioners. Here's a look at the mediocre teams they insist deserve to be rewarded.
Expanding NCAA Tournament field to 76 games invites mediocrity to the Big Dance and ruins the bracket originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . They have the ball inside the 5 now, and only the fiercest of defensive stands from the opposition is going to stop advocates of the 76-team March Madness from reaching their ultimate goal.
And no, mixing the metaphor here is not done by accident. It’s to show how obtuse NCAA Tournament expansion proponents have been throughout their campaign to damage one of America’s greatest events and diminish the popularity of the sport whose championship it decides. It may be hard to believe now, but there was a period within my time following the sport passionately there wasn’t a bracket pool in every office, when millions weren’t watching for that 12/5 upset, when it actually was impossible to see the majority of March Madness games on television.
If you were a Notre Dame fan living in the Pittsburgh suburbs wanting to see John Shumate taking on Michigan and Campy Russell in the 1974 Sweet 16? Forget it. No chance.
The Bracket changed everything. The Bracket is why each NCAA Tournament now is worth $1. 1 billion just in television cash, before anyone sells a ticket or corporate sponsorship or hospitality package.
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