By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
The NCAA is on the verge of extending the March Madness for both men’s and women’s basketball to 76 teams.
It’s a controversial movie. If the process goes through, it’s going to come with a lot of scrutiny. March Madness doesn’t need to be extended. There are going to be teams that won’t be worthy of being in the tournament.
March Madness is for teams that have earned their way into the tournament. Teams that have won important games in their conferences, quad games, and even against tough teams. It doesn’t seem like this would move the needle for college basketball. The tournament is fine the way it is.
With the new expansion of the tournament, this is how it will look:
- Adding eight men’s games, the opening games of Tuesday and Wednesday of the NCAA tournament would feature 24 of the 76 men’s teams
- 12 games played by 24 teams at two sites, one of which was expected to remain in Dayton
Before this becomes official, contracts need to be signed. The NCAA would also need the approval of the committee members from both men’s and women’s teams.
The last time the NCAA expanded the March Madness tournament was back in 2011, when it expanded to 68 teams. Before that, it was 65 teams. The tournament started in 1939, and at that time, there were just 8 teams. The format was much better in 1980 when it was just 48.
Many might disagree and think the tournament got better in 1985 because it expanded to 64 teams, which marked the beginning of the bracket format.
There’s no doubt that this deal will get rejected. Most people would want the tournament to stay at 68. Let’s see how these next couple of weeks or months will play out. There’s also a possibility that next year’s tournament will be held at a new location. So many changes and decisions are coming to the sport. Whether we like the decision or not, eventually, we have to adapt to it.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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