Needless Tinkering

             They seem to have decided to mess with the best thing going yet one more time.  March Madness was nigh onto perfect with 64 teams – – and then they added 4 more teams causing play-in games to set up a championship bracket that is totally symmetrical.  It expanded March Madness, but it did not make it better; the finality of 6 layers of “one-and-done” play prevailed.

Now, it seems clear from reporting just about everywhere that the college basketball mavens are going to expand it again – – this time to 76 teams.  It once was an event with 63 games; then it became an event with 67 games; now it will become an event with 75 games.  So, why do I think this is not a great idea?  After all, more tournament games should equate with more excitement, no?

Part of my problem is that the added games – – pairing off the “Bottom 24 Teams” in a bloated play- in round – – will not showcase anything that nearly approximates the best available squads.  I went back to look at teams who the “experts” assessed to be just outside the umbrella of a 68-team field in March 2026 and found these three teams:

1. Auburn – – 19-15 overall record and 7-11 in SEC games
2. Indiana – – 18-14 overall record and 9-11 in Big-10 games
3. Oklahoma – – 19-15 overall record and 7-11 in SEC games

Those are schools with a high level of recognizability; those are also teams that would not have been compelling TV draws at the end of the 2026 college basketball season.  And the fact of the matter is that unless there is a set-aside to let in more of the so-called “mid-majors” in the proposed 8-team expansion, those slots are going to go to teams in the major conferences that have already proven conclusively that they are only marginally competitive in their own conferences.  Should I have been happy to have had Va Tech in last year’s tournament field after its 8-10 record in the ACC?

• Do I like this idea?  Not even a little bit.
• Have they killed the goose that lays the golden eggs?  No; the Madness will survive.
• Is anything other than greed behind this thinking?  Sorry to say, but no.

And just as you think that decision will create some bad entertainment events, think for a moment about what is likely to happen in the women’s tournament that will also expand to 76 teams.  Here is a data point:

• Last year #2 overall seeded South Carolina played the #67 seeded Southern University in Round 1.  South Carolina won by a score of 103-34.  I’ll bet that was enjoyable to watch…

So, now the idea is to add teams not quite as good – – or slightly less bad? – – than Southern was last season to take on top teams like South Carolina or UConn or UCLA.  Keep talking; I’m not convinced just yet …

I said above that the mid-majors are going to get squeezed by this addition of slots because the real and perceptive view of “strength of schedule” will favor the eighth or ninth place finisher in a “big conference” over a middling team in a conference that might not be known to 75% of the TV audience.  If I am right in that assessment, then this must be the season for squeezing the small college sports programs dry.

Recently, I pointed out how NIL money was enticing low-round projected football players to stay in school to collect NIL money and – hopefully – to improve their Draft positioning with another year on the field.  Well, it should not be a humongous surprise to anyone reading here but there is more NIL money at the power conference schools than there is at schools in the Sun Belt or the MAC.  So, where might you guess the better players have migrated …

Consider this tidbit I ran across; I assume it is correct but do not have the time or energy to confirm it:

• Only 13 players from schools outside the Power 4 were drafted in the 7 rounds of the NFL Draft last week.

There were 256 players drafted last week.  One player did not go to a college in the US.  Ergo, 242 players taken in the Draft came from the Power 4 conferences.  That is 95% of the Draft Class.

So, of those players opting to “stay in school” and collect NIL money and hopefully improve their Draft status, how many of them are signing on with Power 4 teams as opposed to second level teams that might not attract any scouts to some of their games?

Finally, Ralph Waldo Emerson provides an interesting closing remark today:

“Democracy is morose, and runs to anarchy, but in the state, and in the schools, it is indispensable to resist the consolidation of all men into a few men.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………