The NCAA is set to expand the men's and women's basketball tournaments to 76 teams starting next season. This change aims to provide more opportunities for teams to compete in March Madness.
NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-Robert Morris at Alabama
Get ready for more March Madness. It doesnât matter if you didnât ask for it, Greg Sankey wants to make sure his next 17-16 squad gets their opportunity to head to Dayton to play another 13 seed.
Yesterday, word started to spread that the NCAA and their media partners were almost done with a deal to expand the menâs and womenâs tournaments to 76 teams beginning next season. Good news for Syracuse menâs basketball in their attempts to finally get back to the Big Dance and better news for Joe Lunardi who can now do a âLast 12 Teamsâ section in his 26-27 bracketology.
Hereâs how it might shake out, using this yearâs seeding as an exampleâŠimagine what might have happened if Siena never got the chance to play Duke?
Pete Thamel indicated that this expansion will result in modest profits for the NCAA, but the big conferences will see more money from units earned and really thatâs what matters. According to Thamel, there will be an additional First Four site joining Dayton.
The mechanics of the expansion in the menâs tournament would include eight additional at-large bids. Whatâs known now as the First Four â eight teams playing four games in Dayton, Ohio â would expand to 12 games played by 24 teams at two sites, one of which was expected to remain in Dayton.
If youâre looking at logistics, you could certainly go to Hinkle Fieldhouse for the 2nd location, or maybe use The Pit or the Palestra depending on where the 1st round games will be held.
Hopefully expansion on the womenâs side will keep the Orange from having to make another trip to Storrs, but weâll see how the NCAA tweaks the current set-up.
Itâs exciting to get more tournament action, but disappointing that it comes at the expense of the non-power schools. You might not like it now, but just think of the feeling when 13 seed Syracuse is in the Elite Eight with a chance to reach the Final Four..
The NCAA basketball tournaments will expand to include 76 teams starting next season.
The expansion to 76 teams is scheduled to take effect for the next NCAA tournament season.
The expansion provides teams like Syracuse a better chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament, increasing their opportunities to compete.
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