This is What NCAA Tourney Would Look Like With 96 Teams

By Sean Bartel

In our podcasts the last few weeks, Lance and I have talked about what
we both consider a terrible idea: Expanding the NCAA tournament from
65 to 96 teams. Sadly, expansion seems like it might actually happen,
even if by a few teams (listen to this week's where Lance and I
discuss the idea of expanding to 72 teams and two scenarios). So, I
thought I'd show you what a 96-team bracket would look like.

It's not pretty. But it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Here are some of the changes I assume the NCAA would impose if the
bracket expanded from 65 to 96 teams:

- All regular season champions go to the tournament ALONG with the
tournament champion. This means a team like Weber State that won the
league title but lost the tournament finals would get in (note: Only
one team would get the regular-season title; somehow they'd break the
tie).
- 32 teams would receive byes, while 64 teams play the new NCAA
tournament first round.
- The first round would be played on campus. Second and third round
games would return to neutral sites, similar to what the first and
second rounds are now.
The reason the new first round games would be played at home sites is
they'd likely have to be played on a Tuesday, away from the normal
neutral sites, and frankly it would be very tough to sell tickets to a
Cornell/Vermont game played in Houston, Texas.
-- The normal selection of 16 seeds per region will expand to 24
seeds. The top eight seeds in each region get a bye into the second
round. For example, the nine seed will play the 24 seed, with the
winner facing the eight seed, and so on.

Anyhow, I took this week's bracket and added 31 teams. Six bids went
to teams who won their regular season but not the conference
tournament, and 25 more from an at large pool. I didn't make an effort
to keep conference teams apart - really, I'm not sure how the NCAA
would regulate or change the current rule that says conference teams
cannot meet until the regional finals.

For the at large berths, it was basically a crap shoot: I grabbed
every team that was on the bubble before and put them in. With the
remaining 12 slots, I looked at teams with RPIs under 80. All those
got in.

Surprising stuff? Yes, the Big East dominated - an amazing 13 teams in
the draw - but a number of smaller conferences grabbed more bids than
I expected. The Colonial got four teams in; the WAC got four;
Conference USA got five. In expanding from 65 to 96, the ACC and Pac
10 added no teams; the Big 12 added just one; the Big Ten and SEC two
(the Big East added five). Perhaps this somewhat punctures my argument
most new teams would be BCS squads. Still, I look at this draw and
don't find much interesting.

The brackets will stay the same - f.e. Kentucky will still play in
Milwaukee, but will meet the winner of Charlotte/William & Mary in the
first round.  So, here goes. Start it off, as usual, with the East
bracket:
======
East Region (Syracuse, March 25 and 27)

Milwaukee, March 19 and 21
1-Kentucky vs. 16-Charlotte/17-William & Mary winner
8-Missouri vs. 9-Notre Dame/24-Stony Brook winner

Spokane, March 19 and 21
4-Wisconsin vs. 13-Cornell/20-Fairfield winner
5-Butler vs. 12-San Diego State/21-Morgan State winner

New Orleans, March 18 and 20
3-Kansas State vs. 14-Georgia Tech/19-Nevada winner
6-Xavier vs. 11-Siena/22-Vermont winner

Providence, March 18 and 20
2-Villanova vs. 15-Mississippi/18-VCU winner
7-Northern Iowa vs. 10-Virginia Tech/23-Quinnipiac winner

Midwest Region (St. Louis, March 26 and 28)

Oklahoma City, March 18 and 20
1-Kansas vs. 16-Mississippi State/17-Oakland winner
8-Louisville vs. 9-UTEP/24-Winthrop winner

San Jose, March 18 and 20
4-Maryland vs. 13-Kent State/20-Wright State winner
5-Michigan State vs. 12-Washington/21-Coastal Carolina winner

Jacksonville, March 19 and 21
3-Pittsburgh vs. 14-UAB/19-Marshall winner
6-Texas A&M vs. 11-Rhode Island/22-East Tennessee State winner

Milwaukee, March 19 and 21
2-Purdue vs. 15-Connecticut/18-Wofford winner
7-UNLV vs. 10-Wake Forest/23-Lehigh winner

South Region (Houston, March 26 and 28)

Buffalo, March 19 and 21
1-Syracuse vs. 16-Minnesota/17-Wichita State winner
8-Clemson vs. 9-St. Mary's/24-Jackson State winner

Spokane, March 19 and 21
4-Baylor vs. 13-Florida/20-Illinois State winner
5-Vanderbilt vs. 12-Memphis/21-Sam Houston State winner

New Orleans, March 18 and 20
3-Ohio State vs. 14-Dayton/19-Texas Tech winner
6-Georgetown vs. 11-Utah State/22-North Texas winner

Oklahoma City, March 18 and 20
2-New Mexico vs. 15-South Florida/Tulsa winner
7-Richmond vs. 10-Florida State/23-Belmont winner

West Region (Salt Lake City, March 25 and 27)

Jacksonville, March 19 and 21
1-Duke vs. 16-Illinois/17-St. John's winner
8-Oklahoma State vs. 9-Marquette/24-Arkansas Pine-Bluff winner

San Jose, March 18 and 20
4-Tennessee vs. 13-Murray State/20-New Mexico State winner
5-BYU vs. 12-Arizona State/21-Montana winner

Providence, March 18 and 20
3-Temple vs. 14-Seton Hall/19-Northeastern winner
6-Texas vs. 11-California/22-UC-Santa Barbara winner

Buffalo, March 19 and 21
2-West Virginia vs. 15-Cincinnati/18-Weber State winner
7-Gonzaga vs. 10-Old Dominion/23-Robert Morris winner

Most teams:

Big East: 13 teams
Big 12: 8
ACC: 7
Atlantic 10: 6
SEC: 6
Big Ten: 6
Conference USA: 5
Colonial: 4
WAC: 4
Mountain West: 4
Pac 10: 3
West Coast: 3
Missouri Valley: 3
America East: 2
Horizon: 2
MAAC: 2
Atlantic Sun: 2
Big Sky: 2
Big South: 2
NEC: 2
SWAC: 2
--
http://www.seanbartel.com

Comments

[jcknox80]

do you really think a 96 team tournament would be productive though? Quality of play would suffer.