The March to Madness

The Magic Number Is 68, Not 96

Yes, the NCAA is expanding March Madness, but only by three teams.

A new 14-year, $10.8 billion deal with CBS and Turner Broadcasting begins next March, with the NCAA expected to add three more play-in games.

"It's a great thing, a special thing and it should stay that way," Connecticut's Jim Calhoun said.

The combined bid by CBS and Turner beat an offer by ESPN and final approval of expanding the field to 68 is expected next week by the Division I board of directors.

Under the new deal, which runs through the 2024 season, games will be broadcast by CBS and Turner's three cable networks: TBS, TNT and truTV, the former Court TV network.

Through 2015, CBS will broadcast the regional finals, the Final Four and championship game. Starting in 2016, CBS and Turner will split the regional finals and Final Four, and the title game will alternate annually between CBS and TBS.

The deal also includes Internet, wireless and marketing rights.

Will Mid-Majors Be Big Losers in 96-Team Tournament?

It's all but a foregone conclusion that the NCAA tournament will be expanded to 96 teams. The big winner? The NCAA, which expects to add several zeroes to its bank account.

The losers? Teams like Northern Iowa and gunslinger Ali Farokhmanesh, which stunned Kansas in this season's tournament.

Mid-majors — the Butlers, Santa Claras and Northern Iowas — likely won't benefit from the addition of 32 teams.

Instead, the rich will get richer. Teams from the big conferences — Big East, Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Southeastern and Big Ten — are expected to get the lion's share of the slots.

Imagine 13 teams from the Big East in the tournament. Or 10 from the Atlantic Coast, including North Carolina, which finished only 5-11 in league play this past season. How about eight from the Big 12 and SEC, and seven from the Big Ten?

"Yeah, it's going to help the Virginia Techs of the world more than the Northern Colorados of the world," Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle said.

Duke-Butler an Instant Classic? Yes and No

Everybody is still buzzing about Monday night's Duke-Butler championship game, but according to the Wall Street Journal, it was only the seventh-best game of the tournament.

The Journal analyzed all 64 games and ranked them based on six criteria, including the number of lead changes, the teams' combined shooting percentage, whether the underdog prevailed, how close the game was with two minutes left, in which round the game occurred and how many potentially game-changing shots there were in the final minute.

The best game? Tennessee's 76-73 third-round victory over Ohio State. The score was tied with two minutes left and the teams shot a combined 45% (Duke and Butler shot only 39%). In addition, there were two lead changes in the final minute and two game-tying shot attempts by Ohio State's Evan Turner in the closing seconds.

Severance Costs More Than Doubled in Three Years

Todd Lickliter, fired in March by Iowa, is one of 31 coaches to lose their job this season. Lickliter was 38-58 in three seasons in Iowa City, but he's not walking away empty-handed.

Lickliter’s severance agreement calls for the school to pay $600,000 for each of the four years remaining on his contract, even if he gets another job.

He's not alone in cashing in after getting canned.

An analysis by Bloomberg of 51 public universities in the six largest conferences found that schools paid $38.6 million in severance costs for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, compared with $18 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007. In the past three years, universities have paid more than $79.5 million to fire coaches and athletic department administrators.

Old Media

A look at how Monday night's championship game was played on the front pages of newspapers in North Carolina and Indiana. Click an image for an enlarged view.

That Blows

Duke beats Butler, 61-59, to win its fourth title, setting off a celebration in Cameron Indoor and outside on campus.