Is The NCAA About To Make A Huge Mistake?

This may not end well.

Not surprisingly, there is yet another move to expand the NCAA Tournament and it’s coming from the top as NCAA president Charlie Baker says the goal is 72 or 76 teams - in 2026.

The first question is: why?

Frankly, 68 has been a stretch. The First Four has had its moments, but basically it’s a play-in round.

The most logical reason to expand is because the Power Conferences - The SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC - are pushing for it. There have long been rumors that those four could break away and start their own semi-pro arrangement, which would kill the NCAA Tournament.

So if they (and perhaps the Big East) want more teams in or else, the NCAA is going to give in. And that may be exactly what happened.

So assuming this is going to happen whether it’s a good idea or not, how would it be structured?

Most likely with the First Four expanding to the First 12.

Even if you think that the First Four is a terrible idea - we basically do - no one can deny that Dayton has brought something special to those games. Dayton has been a brilliant host city.

The NCAA could conceivably do the First 12 there to keep finances relatively simple, but let’s assume they use either two or four cities. Where would they go?

Here are some options

• Wichita, Kansas
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Greensboro, NC
• Evansville, Indiana

Our main focus is cities with a passion for basketball. Wichita has had that for decades and Albuquerque has too. Greensboro and Evansville have legendary histories with basketball.

One other alternative: Huntington, West Virginia.

There are a lot of other important considerations like travel, convenient airports, enough hotel rooms and the like. We don’t know enough to comment on any of that stuff, but obviously the NCAA will do the research there prior to choosing the cities, assuming it branches out from Dayton.

However, if possible, Dayton brings so much to the First Four that if you can emulate it, you really should.

It seems pretty risky though.

The tournament was great at 64, perfect really. Moving to 76 is going to bring in a lot of mediocre teams.

This past tournament, look at 16 of the bubble teams below going into Selection Sunday and let’s break that down into four groups. Do any of these sound particularly exciting?

Keep in mind that most of the 16 teams are likely to be from the power conferences.

In a sense, it could be relatively straightforward: you keep the same basic structure as Dayton, put the teams in places that logistically and financially make sense, but by definition, these are teams that are not good enough to make it into the field of just 64. And that’s inevitably going to dilute the greatest tournament in the world as people just wait for the weekend games and more or less ignore the early stuff.

It’s a shame, but it looks like the NCAA will be pushed into this.

1. Baylor
2. Dayton
3. Wake Forest
4. Georgia

1. George Mason
2. Indiana
3. Pitt
4. Ohio State

1. Oklahoma
2. San Diego State
3. Texas
4. Northwestern

1. UNC
2. VCU
3. West Virginia
4. Xavier