This is so dumb
I say this because if you win your conference tournament and get an automatic bid you should be playing in the actual tournament and not playing your way into the tournament. If it is less exciting games so be it, most of those games are less exciting anyway.True, but the tradeoff is less exciting games in the round of 64. The 14 and 15 seeds were already bad enough. Now two would-be 16 seeds will be 15 seeds and two would-be 15 seeds will be 14 seeds (and so on).
In the interest of getting closer to having the top 64 teams in the real tournament, I was hoping it would go the other way. But I guess it's a better "reward" for the top seeds to get to face worse competition, and I do like that.
I wish the best KenPom team from each conference got an autobid. The conference tourneys are as much a crapshoot as the NCAAT.I say this because if you win your conference tournament and get an automatic bid you should be playing in the actual tournament and not playing your way into the tournament. If it is less exciting games so be it, most of those games are less exciting anyway.
The ESPN article says "The expansion would lead to an additional eight men's games, meaning the Tuesday and Wednesday of the NCAA tournament would feature 24 of the 76 men's teams. That number now includes eight teams who would have qualified for the traditional bracket that would square off against the eight at-large additions."
I was initially against when the field was expanded to 68, but I can't imagine it now without the first 4 games. I'm fine with more of those.Hate this. Why change something that isn’t broken.
All about the $$$. Why not just make it 124 teams then?
To be clear I think this is the equivalent of painting a Facebook ad onto the Sistine Chapel ceiling and I would literally send people to jail for it if I could, HOWEVER putting more auto qualifiers into play-in games will actually make the 16 and 15 seeds quite a bit stronger and more likely to beat 1's and 2's, all else being equal.
And a first team out (Cincinnati) would still have an efficiency rank equal/better than the last four bye teams. I'll never get used to ignoring efficiency for selection.
the better question....how would we even be able to tell?Will Indiana refuse to play if they are a play-in team?
Hate this. Why change something that isn’t broken.
All about the $$$. Why not just make it 124 teams then?