The NCAA Way: Fixing something (March Madness) that wasn't broken

The NCAA Way: Fix something that isn’t broke. Water down a product already teetering on opening-round boredom because NIL equals fewer Cinderella teams. And create a system that rewards under .500 Power 5 programs and ignores solid mid-major teams.

An official announcement is expected this month that the NCAA is expanding the basketball tournament from 68 to 76 teams.

Ugh.

Twelve games will be played (half in Dayton, Ohio, and half at a to-be-determined western location) on Tuesday and Wednesday of tournament week.

Yuck.

Six teams will be champions from one-bid leagues and will earn Nos. 15-16 seeds and six teams will be at-large teams that will receive Nos. 10-12 seeds.

Blah.

That leaves 52 teams who will receive opening-round byes.

Who is going to watch these games (besides gamblers and parents)? What channel will they be on (will CBS/Turner farm out some of these games to ESPN or Amazon Prime)? How will the tip times be spaced out (a 2 p.m. Tuesday tip would be 44 hours after Selection Sunday)?

My two issues: I want the “little guys” to experience the actual tournament instead of racing to a charter flight and playing in Dayton. That isn’t the true tournament experience. Secondly, do we really want big programs who go 7-11 (or worse) in league play qualifying for the tournament? No. But they will now.

The NCAA will spin this as a way to include mid-major teams who didn’t win their conference tournament and the automatic bid. Yeah, right. The Athletic did a mock 76-team field for last month’s tournament and it included eight Power 5 and four mid-major teams in the at-large part of the “opening round,” field. Get ready for Indiana vs. Cincinnati on a Tuesday afternoon!

I get it, the additional revenue will help colleges keep non-revenue sports afloat, but the ripple effect is major conference mediocrity being rewarded. Hey, Mr. Athletic Director, I went 7-11 in the SEC, but made the play-in round so I should keep my job!

Like many of you, Thursday-Friday of the tournament’s first weekend is appointment viewing for me and even better when I was able to cover it in-person. Unless they play these games in Jacksonville, count me out from being interested in 12 games on Tuesday-Wednesday.

Bryson DeChambeau chips onto the 18th green during the second round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

About LIV golf

Unpopular Opinion Alert: The PGA Tour benefited from LIV Golf, which sure looks like it’s reaching the end of the line after the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia announced its decision to withdraw (or stop burning money) from bankrolling LIV at the end of the year.

The presence of LIV, which hired such champions as Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith to mega-million dollar contracts, forced the PGA Tour to reassess its business and competitive model.

Check out the 2020 vs. 2025/26 purses for four tournaments I looked up: The Players ($20 million to $25 million), the RBC Heritage ($8 million to $20 million), the Travelers ($8.3 million to $20 million), the St. Jude Classic ($15 million to $20 million) and the Arnold Palmer Invitational ($12 million to $20 million). The signature events have created a spring and summer buzz.

What to do with the LIV players who want to return to the PGA Tour? Have them pay a fine and welcome back every player who has won a Players or major since 2021 effective in January 2027 and make the others go through Qualifying School.

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - DECEMBER 20: Nate Boerkircher #87 of the Texas A&M Aggies runs with the ball in the first quarter against the Miami Hurricanes during the 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Kyle Field on December 20, 2025 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

About Jaguars/NFL

1. Ignore draft grades: My advice to Jacksonville Jaguars fans full of angst about their team’s draft class ranking at the bottom of the league? Move on. A team that has no first-round pick and only one selection in the first 80 isn’t going to have a great grade.

Remember, the 2020 Jaguars draft class received across-the-board A’s. C.J. Henderson and K’Lavon Chaisson were busts.

And enough of the “consensus board” stuff. The draft analysts work hard on compiling their rankings but they would be the first to admit it is their rankings. Opinions will vary.

I laugh at the fans who ripped drafting tight end Nate Boerkircher in round 2 (he wasn’t high on the “consensus board”), but praised drafting guard Emmanuel Pregnon in round 3 (what a steal!).

More from O'Halloran: 15 questions about the Jacksonville Jaguars following the NFL Draft

2. Edge help needed: The Jaguars should remain interested in adding a veteran edge rusher. They created cap space with the Travon Walker contract extension so they can afford it.

Three guys I would kick the tires on are Joey Bosa (last with Buffalo), A.J. Epenesa (last with Buffalo) and Leonard Floyd (last with Atlanta).

3. Laundry news: The Jaguars said several veterans have switched jersey numbers. Running back LeQuint Allen Jr. moved from No. 36 to No. 5, safety Antonio Johnson No. 26 to No. 6 and cornerbacks Jarrian Jones No. 22 to No. 4 and Buster Brown No. 30 to No. 1.

Jones switching numbers frees up No. 22 for third-round safety Jalen Huskey, who wore the number at Bowling Green and Maryland to honor his sister, Keira, who died on Feb. 22, 2022.

“Huge inspiration,” Jalen said when I asked him about his sister. “Just being able to have her with me on the field and wearing that 22 is something that’s extremely important to me.”

The rest of the draft pick’s jersey numbers: Pregnon (75), Boerkircher (87), receivers CJ Williams (18) and Josh Cameron (19), linebacker Parker Hughes (53), edge Zach Dufree (58), tight end Tanner Koziol (89), edge Wesley Williams (90) and defensive tackle Albert Regis (98).

4. Opportunity for Beck: What a great landing spot for quarterback Carson Beck (Mandarin High) to be selected by Arizona to begin the third round.

The Cardinals’ current passers are Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew. The Cardinals should start Beck right away and lean on the running game (Jeremiyah Love, Tyler Allgeier and James Conner) to set up play action. If the Cardinals aren’t competitive, they will be in position to draft another passer at the top of next year’s first round. If they find something with Beck, great.

5. Quick Kicks: The Jaguars will hold rookie minicamp May 8-10. When the veterans hit the field, the Jaguars will be one of five teams who will have mandatory minicamp before their final set of organized team activities (voluntary). … Denver fans should be concerned about quarterback Bo Nix needing a second ankle surgery since he was injured in the Broncos’ AFC Divisional Round win over Buffalo regardless of how coach Sean Payton will try to frame it. … The NFL Draft’s three-day viewership dropped from 7.7 million to 6.6 million, a product of fewer household names, eight teams not having a first-round pick and no polarizing player still on the board on the final day like Shedeur Sanders last year.

Extra points

A brilliant move by the Duke men’s basketball team that should be followed by teams like Florida. The Blue Devils and Amazon established a multi-year deal to broadcast three games next season — vs. Connecticut Nov. 25 in Las Vegas, vs. Michigan Dec. 21 in New York and vs. Gonzaga Feb. 20 in Detroit. Beaucoup money for the Blue Devils. … Good to see former Gators center Olivier Rioux, the tallest college basketball player to appear in a game (7-foot-9) land at UC-Irvine. … Please, please, 100 times please give the Minnesota Wild-Colorado Avalanche second-round playoff series a chance when it starts next week. In particular, watch Wild defensemen Quinn Hughes (No. 43) and Brock Faber (No. 7) and Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (No. 8).

Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM for segments every Tuesday (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night) and Thursday (1:15 p.m. in “XL Primetime") and on X every Wednesday (3:20 p.m. on “Duval Rundown”).

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: NCAA tournament expansion: Why it's a bad idea