What to know about the recent men’s NCAA tournament expansion news

Whereas convention growth has been the subject du jour in school sports activities all offseason, the NCAA introduced Thursday it had mentioned a distinct sort of growth this week.

The NCAA Division I Males’s Basketball Committee acknowledged its members talked about expanding the NCAA tournament in its three-day assembly this week, however the group additionally stated increasing the sector is “not imminent.”

“The committee should be good stewards for the Division I Males’s Basketball Championship,” stated Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice chairman of basketball. “They’re dedicated to doing their due diligence taking a look at a couple of completely different fashions to make an knowledgeable determination that is in the very best pursuits of the championship, and that will very nicely embody deciding in opposition to growth.”

“The committee and workers will proceed learning choices and gathering suggestions from numerous constituents,” Gavitt added. “Whether or not the match expands or not stays to be seen.”

Here is what to learn about the place everybody stands on increasing the sector.

How did we get right here?

Whereas increasing the NCAA match has been a subject of dialog in school sports activities for a while, it became an official discussion point in Januarywhen the NCAA Division I transformation committee launched a 22-page report with a wide range of suggestions to school sports activities. Amongst these suggestions was one permitting 25% of groups in sports activities with at the least 200 faculties to compete in championship occasions. In males’s school basketball, which had 363 faculties final season, that might imply as much as 90 groups might take part within the NCAA match.

The Division I board of administrators approved that recommendation (and others) later that month.

The boys’s NCAA match expanded to 64 groups in 1985, later going to 65 groups in 2001 and 68 in 2011. The NCAA hasn’t specified if there’s a specific mannequin or variety of groups it’s contemplating in these growth discussions.

When would possibly the committee focus on this matter once more?

The subsequent in-person assembly for the committee will likely be in late October in Phoenix, though it is possible a digital assembly or two will likely be scheduled earlier than the committee meets within the fall.

How do school sports activities’ energy brokers view match growth?

Whereas particular person convention growth has been on the forefront of most discussions between convention commissioners, a few league leaders have already made clear their stances on match growth.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey obtained the ball rolling final summer season, when he instructed Sports activities Illustrated he was prepared to take a “recent look” on the match.

“If the final crew in can win the nationwide championship, they usually’re within the 30s or 40s from an RPI or [NCAA] NET standpoint, is our present strategy supporting nationwide championship competitors?” Sankey stated on the time. “I believe there’s well being in that dialog. That does not exclude folks. It goes to: How will we embody folks in these annual nationwide celebrations that result in a nationwide champion?”

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips instructed ESPN at ACC media day final fall he thought match growth was price exploring.

“It is the crown jewel of all of our championships,” Phillips stated. “There’s nothing that basically duplicates it, on either side, on the boys’s facet and the ladies’s facet. So it’s a must to be respectful of not messing it up both, and perceive it is in a very good, wholesome place. However you additionally need to proceed to be progressive, and I attempt to consider these issues in that method.”

“Extra entry, extra alternative for extra younger women and men,” he added. “There’s a whole lot of positives to that.”

Large East commissioner Val Ackerman has expressed concern about tv contracts and the logistical and scheduling complexities of an expanded match.

CBS and Turner Sports activities are contracted to televise the NCAA match by way of 2032.

What do school basketball coaches take into consideration growth?

Coaches are pretty break up on whether or not to develop the match from 68 groups.

Late final month, Michigan State‘s Tom Izzo instructed ESPN’s Myron Medcalf that growth might diminish the product.

“I simply suppose it’ll get watered down,” Izzo stated. “I fear about that a bit of bit. It would not hassle me in the event that they did that, however I do fear that if it will get watered down, it isn’t good. … I believe 68 has been a reasonably good quantity. I believe you get sufficient good first-round video games. That is me.”

At ACC media day final fall, Miami coach Jim Larrañaga defined why he is in favor.

“I have been a proponent of increasing the NCAA match for a very long time,” Larrañaga stated. “Should you take a look at the mission of school basketball, the NCAA match is the end result of each participant’s dream. However in case you take a look at the historical past, it is at all times the identical groups with a couple of exceptions. So increasing the match to 96, it actually ought to have gone from 64 to 96.”

Virginia‘s Tony Bennett stated on the time he did not need to overhaul the bracket, however wasn’t against minor growth.

“I believe the NCAA match is arguably the very best, from begin to end, the very best sporting occasion going,” Bennett stated. “I do not need to lose what we have now. If we have now a bit of little bit of growth and it does not take away and it isn’t a significant shift, I would be for that. I’d defend what we have now, and if there’s little changes, a couple of extra right here and there, I would be for that, however not a significant overhaul.”

Auburn‘s Bruce Pearl expressed related ideas to Medcalf final month.

“I believe after we went from 64 to 68 [teams]it did not harm something,” Pearl stated. “I’d be [in favor of] including a handful of groups. You possibly can say, ‘Effectively, yearly, there are going to be 4 or 5 groups which can be omitted of the match.’ OK? So let’s add 4. I am not for blowing it up. I am not for 96.”

In the meantime, Virginia Tech‘s Mike Younger echoed the vast majority of school basketball followers on social media when he stated eventually fall’s ACC media day he would go for the established order.

“I am a purist,” Younger stated. “I do not prefer it. … Why would we dabble with one thing that is been so profitable, that is been so distinctive to the world of athletics, that’s having fun with monumental recognition and has endlessly and ever?”