NCAA Tournament Expansion: Why?

NCAA Tournament Expansion: Why?

By Hunter DeSantis

The NCAA has begun the process of expanding the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams, and many people are asking themselves the same question: why? Why would the NCAA change the model of its flagship tournament when the idea is wildly unpopular among college sports fans? The answer to that question is incredibly simple, money and power. More teams and more games equal more money for everyone involved. More teams in the Tournament means more bids from power conferences, which leads to greater access for those universities and conferences.

The NCAA Tournament has expanded before, most recently when it went from 65 teams to 68 in 2011. This time, though, things are different. Since the House Settlement, even the wealthiest of universities have been strapped for cash. Just because House allowed universities access to $20.5 million to pay players does not mean that every university had an extra $20.5 million laying around to spend. Athletic Departments have responded by doing everything they could to find new, creative funding sources for the school and its athletes. It’s not just Athletic Departments that are feeling the heat, the salary cap affects academic budgets, campus services, administrative decisions, and more.

As a result, the opportunity to add more teams to the NCAA Tournament will likely be too difficult to pass up. While inside sources have allegedly insisted the Tournament “isn’t expected to be a financial windfall,” it remains clear that money is one of the driving factors fueling expansion. And as mentioned above, it’s not just money that is influencing this decision, the power conferences have pushed this expansion along every step of the way.

Throughout this past basketball season, one of the biggest stories of the year was Miami of Ohio’s miraculous undefeated regular season. During the lead up to the end of the regular season, the question on everyone’s mind was whether or not Miami of Ohio would make the NCAA Tournament if they failed to win the MAC Tournament and secure an automatic bid. Despite the fact they ended the regular season 31-0, many fans insisted the team wasn’t as good as other schools with average records in power conferences. Notably, before conference championship week began, former Auburn Head Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl stated Miami of Ohio did not deserve to make the Tournament if they failed to win the MAC. Despite ultimately losing in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament, Miami of Ohio was able to secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Auburn finished the season at a mediocre record of 17-16, and was listed as one of the “First Four Out” teams that just missed qualifying for the Tournament.

With expansion of the NCAA Tournament to include 76 teams, programs like Auburn will have access to the big dance that they would not have had in prior years, such as this past season. The expansion would result in eight additional at-large bids which would primarily go to power conference schools like Auburn. It would also result in an expansion of what is currently known as the “First Four” which are the games played Tuesday and Wednesday of the NCAA Tournament before the Round of 64 begins on Thursday.

What happens post expansion will define the next decade of college basketball. Expansion to 76 teams may be just the beginning as schools search for revenue and conferences push for greater control. Whether this change strengthens the Tournament or stretches it too thin remains to be seen. As the Tournament expands, the NCAA will need to display that it can balance financial necessity with the integrity of one of the most beloved sporting events in the world.