Report: NCAA has 'had dialogue' about major NCAA Tournament expansion
Opponents to College Football Playoff expansion argue, in part, that expanding the Playoff now will just open the door to more expansion and more expansion and more expansion and so on and so forth.
The NCAA basketball tournament began with eight teams in 1939. It currently sits at 68, but might soon grow by as many as 20 teams.
According to CBS Sports Jon Rothstein, the Division I Transformation Committee has “had dialogue” to expand the field of every NCAA-sanctioned tournament to include 25% of eligible programs. In men’s basketball, that would mean going to either 90 or 91 spots in the NCAA Tournament.
Sources: The Division 1 Transformation Committee has had dialogue to expand the NCAA Tournament in all sports to include 25% of the programs who are eligible.
This would mean the Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament would expand by approximately 20 teams.
Many have opposed this.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 20, 2022
March Madness is one of the greatest sporting events we have now. As college football’s conference realignment madness has raged, many have held tightly to the NCAA Tournament hoping it isn’t impacted. There’s very real opposition to expanding the tournament field.
And you’ll see all the same arguments you see from the anti-expansion crowd in college football. It’ll water down the field. It’ll lessen the impact of the regular season. It’ll lessen the quality of the NCAA Tournament.
There are some, however, who don’t seem so opposed. According to The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker, new Missouri head coach Dennis Gates wants to see the Tournament double in size.
New Missouri coach Dennis Gates doesn't just support NCAA Tournament expansion.
"I would like to see it double, to be honest with you. There are some great coaches left out of the tournament and some great players we don’t get to see."
Oh.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) October 19, 2022
According to Rothstein, the committee will meet later this month to discuss the idea.
Source: While the Division 1 Transformation Committee has discussed expanding the NCAA Tournament in all sports, there's a strong sentiment that expanding the Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament is different because of its uniqueness.
The committee meets later this month. https://t.co/1a0qXOziSO
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 20, 2022