Possible NCAA Tournament Expansion Back in the News

[ACE]

I have been an advocate of expansion as the most viable path to get more true mid majors into the Dance, BUT I'm concerned that what is being talked about now wouldn't go far enough and the fact that a P6 conference is driving the discussion is NOT going to be helpful to mid majors. I'm not sure why mid majors aren't beating the drum about this and making sure their voices are heard, and advocating that when the field expands, that some of those invitations to the Dance go to deserving mid majors, as opposed to a 10th place team in a P6 conference. In the end it may not matter, but mid majors should at least go down swinging before being rendered completely obsolete.

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/ncaa-tournament-expansion-big-12-discussions-march-madness

[Taj79]

You damn well know that if the NCAA tournament is indeed expanded, the bulk of those expansion slots will STILL go to P5 teams.  

[slu72]

68 to 72/76 is nothing. As TajMahal79 said, it’s a chance for P4 or P5 to get a few additional spots. It would need to expand to 98 or so to get in more mids. In all likelihood it’s irrelevant as once the biggies get FB sorted out they’ll turn their sights on how to make hoops more biggie friendly, ie how to get more $’s for themselves. In the long run, mids are toast. 

[cgeldmacher]

On 5/29/2025 at 5:35 PM, ACE said:

I have been an advocate of expansion as the most viable path to get more true mid majors into the Dance, BUT I'm concerned that what is being talked about now wouldn't go far enough and the fact that a P6 conference is driving the discussion is NOT going to be helpful to mid majors. I'm not sure why mid majors aren't beating the drum about this and making sure their voices are heard, and advocating that when the field expands, that some of those invitations to the Dance go to deserving mid majors, as opposed to a 10th place team in a P6 conference. In the end it may not matter, but mid majors should at least go down swinging before being rendered completely obsolete.

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/ncaa-tournament-expansion-big-12-discussions-march-madness

What amazes me is that the Committee is usually made up of more than 50% folks who are representatives of non P6 conferences.  Why those representatives go along with the shafting of their own is beyond me.

[Lord Elrond]

8 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

What amazes me is that the Committee is usually made up of more than 50% folks who are representatives of non P6 conferences.  Why those representatives go along with the shafting of their own is beyond me.

The people in non-P6 conferences on those committees would generally like to get a higher paying P6 conference job later on in their careers. 

[cgeldmacher]

3 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

The people in non-P6 conferences on those committees would generally like to get a higher paying P6 conference job later on in their careers. 

Agree.  That's the only explanation I can come up with as well.  They certainly don't show any loyalty to their present conferences.