According to Gregg Doyle of the Indianapolis Star and USA Today,
the NCAA is probably gong to expand the number of teams in the Tournament
again.
Question is how many teams do they add ?
As many .500 P5 teams as they can.
Exactly. I'm sorry, but you're delusional if you think this expansion is to let more mid-majors in. Now we can have ACC/Big 10/SEC teams that go 7-13 in conference play get rewarded with a tourney birth.
I'm not sure I buy this, exactly. I get the rationale, but I don't think the NCAA is naive enough to not recognize what it is about the NCAA tournament that makes it such huge money maker -- especially in the early rounds. And adding teams has no impact on the Sweet 16, Elite 8, or Final Four.
Ultimately, I think they're just trying to figure out a way to increase the size of the TV pool and that means more games that -- to the extent possible -- feel like the first couple of rounds of things as currently set up. You need mid-majors to do that.
How much do you expect the tourney to expand? Go look at the bracketology pages from previous tournaments. CBS had last year's "first four out" as: Xavier, UNC, Texas, and Wake Forest. Would you consider Xavier a mid? I wouldn't, really. Joe Lunardi's first 4 out were: Boise, Ohio State, UNC, and Texas. Texas was on both of those lists. Last year, Texas was 6-12 in the SEC. Six. And. Twelve. If the tourney expands, would the entire SEC make the field?
I'm not saying no mid major programs would get in...but I'd fully expect 70% or more of expansion teams to NOT be mid major programs.
Last Edited: 7/14/2025 5:12:41 PM by 100%Cat