SEC commissioner Greg Sankey open to major March Madness changes - Sports Illustrated
Greg Sankey potentially has eyes on expanding the current 68-team field.
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NCAA Tourney Changes?
- Thread starter rutgersguy1
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Idk if I want a 96 team March Madness. It would severely water down the field.
There's nothing they won't screw up to make a quick buck.
The one truly great and (mostly) untainted thing left in sports and they just can't help themselves from fudging it up.
I agree and it would kill the importance of the regular season games in February and conference tournament play in early March.
Good old useless NCAA. If it ain’t broke, try to fix it.
I understand how bananas this is going to sound, but isn’t the field already watered down with teams like St. Peter’s getting in?
I get it, it’s fun they made a run and everything and got hot, but they aren’t even making the tournament if they played in the B1G. So how are they any different from a Minnesota who gets hot and goes on a run?
If you don't see the difference -- which is staring at you right in the face -- I don't know what to tell you. It's the Cinderella/David vs. Goliath aspect that makes the current NCAA tournament setup absolutely unique and scintillating.
You think anybody would've cared as much if a #15 seeded Minnesota team made the type of run to the Elite 8 that St. Peter's made?
That’s fine, but doesn’t that make it watered down?
You’re basically saying the only reason there’s interest is because they have no business being there to begin with.
I think that in general, across the board, viewership would be up with a #15 seeded Minnesota.
The discussion isn’t, “wow look at what St Peter’s did!” It’s “what did Murray State vs USF do?”
I get it, everyone likes a Cinderella story, but keep things in perspective. That St Peter’s run was a historic run, so let’s not act like it happens often. And prior to the sweet 16, they brought zero value to the tournament.
Just as an example. Look at RU’s B1G Tournament run in Sanders’ last year.
1st round vs Minnesota there was a small portion of loyal fans at the game
2nd round vs Indiana, more people showed up and more people watched on TV
3rd round vs Purdue we took over MSG
The viewership potential is higher with a large university. It’s the same reason we’re about to get a fatty paycheck from our new TV contract.
Viewership in Minnesota would've been higher with #15 seed Minnesota playing UNC. It would not have had the same appeal nationally that St. Peter's did IMO.
Your B1G tournament run example - we are a train ride away from MSG so of course it was easier for Rutgers fans to attend the games, and they cared more as the stakes got higher and we showed a pulse. (Plus, our fans could buy tickets from dejected Indiana fans and others who were no longer in the tournament.) Beyond that, the fans in any neutral site tournament will tend to gravitate towards the underdog partly to see the upset, and partly because they know it should be an easier path forward for their team if someone like Purdue is upset by a Corey Sanders-led Rutgers team.
Your B1G tournament run example - we are a train ride away from MSG so of course it was easier for Rutgers fans to attend the games, and they cared more as the stakes got higher and we showed a pulse. (Plus, our fans could buy tickets from dejected Indiana fans and others who were no longer in the tournament.) Beyond that, the fans in any neutral site tournament will tend to gravitate towards the underdog partly to see the upset, and partly because they know it should be an easier path forward for their team if someone like Purdue is upset by a Corey Sanders-led Rutgers team.
This is an excellent way to word it.
Fair point on the B1G tourney run, but same thing would apply with viewership. Like if it was being played in Indianapolis, TV numbers would have gradually increased out of the NY/NJ area.
St. Peter’s might have been an historic run, but there are Cinderella runs every single year of the tournament (just not by #15 seeds).
See Gonzaga (before they became a behemoth), George Mason, VCU, Butler, Wichita State, Loyola-Chicago etc, all recent ones.
This is what makes the NCAA Tournament one of the best sports tournaments in the universe (right up there with the World Cup). Not to mention, the mid-major CONFERENCE tournaments are fantastic BECAUSE of the autobids, so it makes championship week absolutely scintillating.
“Watered down” is expanding the field with a bunch of mediocre teams that didn’t win their conference tournaments. Best analogy there is all of the bowl games between 6-6 teams.
Sure, but it’s all perception. You think it’s cool because they won their league and get to take a shot at the big boys. Put Minnesota in a crap conference and see what happens.
Regardless, none of this matters. None of these decisions are made because of what you or anyone else thinks makes March madness cool. They’re making it because of $$$.
Much like the conference realignment stuff, and the NIL stuff, you can say you don’t like it, but it’s happening.
This isn’t the NCAA, this is Greg Stanley making sure his expanded SEC can get a ton of teams in.
The only reason I want the NCAA to remain a thing is bc of March Madness.
MM and the World Cup are the two greatest sporting events in the world by far IMO. I'll be devastated if they ruin it
MM and the World Cup are the two greatest sporting events in the world by far IMO. I'll be devastated if they ruin it
Strap in because it’s coming. The Big Conferences want all the money for themselves and don’t care what they destroy.
My understanding was that when the football teams spun off the CFA to replace the NCAA, they basically handed the NCAA control of the MBB tournament. This change has been in the works for a long, long time. I fully expect the P6 conferences to get their way, but take a PR beating in the process.
You're very wrong lol. Pointing to a team that made the elite 8 and knocked off multiple elite programs is proving the exact opposite of what you're claiming
I think the point behind St. Peters and the auto bid, is they won their conference and that gave them the opportunity to beat the big boys. Which they did. Just because they are in a small conference doesn't mean they aren't better than some or even a majority of P5 teams. One never knows until the opportunity is presented. And as far as Minnesota vs. St. Peters? Small college St. Peters would outdraw Minny in a heartbeat in the Elite 8. The network promoted the hell out of St. Peters because of the small size of the school and the improbability they would still be playing. Even my wife couldn't wait for St. Peters to come on every night. It was a great story.
Awful news if this comes true. Would be horrible for the sport. It doesn’t matter if Minnesota is more talented than St Peters or any other auto bid team. It simply is not interesting to follow a sport where even teams that go 4-16 in their conference make the field. It would change everything the tournament stands for. It’s supposed to be the place teams that accomplished something for the season go at the end of it all to compete for a championship. Winning an auto-bid, finishing first in whatever conference you play in - those are accomplishments. Going 13-17 and 4-16 is the kind of year you want to forget and just move on from.
OP tweet clip says the St. Peters- UNC game was highest rated E8 game and higher than 5 NBA Finals games... how many E8 games that did not involve cinderella small conference teams fit that description or something similar?
Always ask what they are NOT telling you.
Always ask what they are NOT telling you.
What’s the point I’m making?
You guys are using an outlier, a historic event, to justify viewership.
I’m not saying it’s not cool they go on those runs and I like the David v Goliath.
I’m just saying you’re crazy for not thinking a large university is going to pull better tv numbers on average.
And that is why they need to expand the CFP to 16 teams.. or, lets really stretch things.. every 5 years, every 5th season, have the NCAA schedule everyones games to have a real tournament style season chock full of underdog-favorite games that mean something... double elimination tourney.
You don't think that if St. Peter’s played in the B1G and: received an equal share of B1G TV revenue so St. Peter’s could pay its coaches better, have a staff as big as other B1G teams and had a recruiting budget the size of other B1G members, that St. Peter’s could not grow its program to the point where it is frequently in the NCAAT via an at-large bid?
Are those tweets a joke?
"Let more of their mediocre teams in"??
Aren't all those "mediocre teams" better than most AQ team.
Rutgers was one of those "mediocre" teams this year and we were ranked approx 50th (?) out of 68 teams.
i.e. we were better than a lot of those AQ teams that were all seeded lower than us.
"Let more of their mediocre teams in"??
Aren't all those "mediocre teams" better than most AQ team.
Rutgers was one of those "mediocre" teams this year and we were ranked approx 50th (?) out of 68 teams.
i.e. we were better than a lot of those AQ teams that were all seeded lower than us.
Your rationale makes zero sense.
The AQ system actually rewards a team that goes 13-17 or even 4-16 in conference.
If they win 4 games in March - all of a sudden they are in the tournament.
If their was no AQ via conference tournament - those teams are actually forced to forget it and just move on.
If you actually want teams that go 13-17 or 4-16 to just move on - then don't give them a chance to get into the tournament with a hot 1 week.
A team could literally go 0-30 from November to February.
But they win 4 games in the A-10 Tournament in March and all a sudden they are in.
AQ based on winning a conference tournament allows a team to completely invalidate an entire season's results.
Hot Take: NCAA March Madness is the worst designed tournament in all of sports.
What other post season tournament gives a 1st round bye to a lower seeded team (#12 seeds have to play in 1st round while #16 seeds do not).
If all you care about is "Cinderella/David v. Goliath" then why do the team names matter?
#15 is #15 - regardless of what team is it.
If the team names matter then why stop at conference tournament winners. Just have the committee select the worst teams in conferences then.
Quinnipiac (last in the MAAC) would have been an even bigger "Cinderalla/David v. Goliath". Put them in the NCAA tournament.
The field is already 100% watered down.
Just ask anyone a simple question: Are the best 68 teams in the country invited? The answer is no.
They water down the tournament to let worse teams in.
If they actually invited the 68 best teams, then all "at-large" teams would be seeded after all the AQ teams.
By seeding many "at-large" teams ahead, they committee is admitting they are inviting worse teams.
Hope no changes to ncaa tourney. Format as is works ! If they want to expand say by several teams that’s fine but the magic of small schools advancing via AQ is what makes March Madness the most magnificent sporting event.
The point is, Cinderella runs are NOT an “outlier.” They happen every single year to varying degrees. St. Peter’s just happened to be an extreme version of Cinderella because they’re such a tiny school and were a #15 seed.
It’s NEVER been about “the best 68 teams.” It’s about rewarding all conference champions, big and small, and then adding in X number of the next best teams (with X being expanded over the years).
They are actually making this point (not missing it) - it’s going to be the very thing that kills the sport. 15-16 seeds aren’t supposed to win very often at all. In fact, the simplistic main bracket structure (straight 64 field without byes) only works because the field consists of those auto bid games which are almost (but not quite) the equivalent of a bye. It’s basically an easy way of showcasing the best teams without a material risk of them getting eliminated.
People in those media rooms need to open their eyes here. Viewers don’t want to see the regular season made even more meaningless than it already is. Forget about the conference tournies which would literally become pointless.
That is a hot take. It is also incorrect.
All four No. 16 seeds play in the First Four in Dayton.
Thanks for the miniscule correction.
Do the 15 seeds?
14 seeds?
13 seeds?
Point proven.
