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.
It could also have a big impact on scheduling, with teams from big conferences having no incentive to schedule games against mid-majors.
"Why would a team want to play a [good mid-major] like Northern Colorado and risk losing, if they knew they were going to be in the tournament by just playing it safe," Boyle said. "That's going to make scheduling at a place like our school much, much more difficult. And it already is difficult."
The NCAA says expansion is for those mid-major and small school programs who may win their league's regular season title, but who get aced out in the conference tourney. We all know that's bull It's all about TV and the money. Who would get a bigger rating in the first round - a game with a 17-15 North Carolina team or a game that features a 22-8 Morehead State team?
Posted by: Will | April 11, 2010 at 06:54 AM