the tindog coffeehouse

Sports columnist Ray Melick predicts that if the NCAA goes through with its plans to expand its men’s basketball tournament from 65 teams to 96, that within a couple of years, it’ll expand again to 128:

My guess is the only reason NCAA officials limited their current thinking to adding just 31 teams was to fit every­thing into the current CBS broadcast window. No sense walking away from $2 billion in today’s economy until you’re absolutely sure some­one is going to give you more. …

If ESPN bought the rights to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and decided it could afford to go head-to-head with The Masters — par­ticularly since the final week­end’s games would avoid going up against Sunday’s fi­nal round — instead of adding one more day of tournament basketball, it could add an en­tire weekend’s worth of pro­gramming and commercials.

I have no doubt in my mind that Melick is right. If there’s more money to be made by doubling the size of the current tournament, then that’s what they’ll do, regardless of fans’ objections or what impact it would have on regular season games (not to mention the grades of the players, almost none of whom will ever play in the NBA).

But why stop at 128? If Melick is right and history has proven that the tournament will keep expanding and expanding, then why not just do away with the regular season altogether? I mean, if it’s already pretty much worthless with 65 teams, how much more irrelevant will it be at 96 or 128?

So here’s my suggestion: Make the entire season one gigantic tournament that includes every college in America. Colleges that currently don’t have a basketball team will be required by law to start one. (Not unreasonable considering how big of a basketball fan President Obama is.) According to one source I found, there are 2364 four-year colleges in the U.S., which doesn’t fit well into a 4-region bracket, so we’ll throw in most junior colleges, online universities, automotive schools, and a few culinary programs until we get to 4096.

At that number, there would be a total of 4094 games played through 11 rounds until you end up with the 2 remaining teams that would face off for the championship. If the tournament kicks off in mid-November when the regular season normally does and runs through the end of March, that’s about 136 days. We’ll throw out a few days for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years and round it off at 130, meaning on average there will be 31.5 games running every day of the week for four and a half months straight: a veritable goldmine for any network willing to pay for the rights to broadcast it.

Meanwhile, players would only play a maximum of 12 games per season, leaving them plenty of time to go to class, study for finals, and enter the NBA Draft.

But perhaps the greatest benefit of such a move would be that finally — FINALLY! — the NCAA would be satisfied that it had expanded enough.

That is, until it adds a bunch of high schools to the mix and grows again to 8192.

Previously:
More March Madness is, well, madness

Kansas, you’re dead to me.

After picking you to win the National Championship, what did you do? You went out and lost to Northern Iowa, a school that I’m pretty sure is fictional since no one has ever heard of it.

Also gone is No. 2 Villanova, who lost to tenth-seeded St. Mary’s. That’s also pretty embarrassing, but at least no one expected Nova to win the South region. Besides, with two small Catholic schools playing each other, it’s just clear that God liked St. Mary’s better. (Although the word on the street is that the Pope had Nova by 10.)

I’m still sticking with K-State to make it to the Final Four, and my other 2 picks, Kentucky and Duke, are still safe. As for the Midwest, it’s definitely living up to its nickname, “The Group of Death”. I would say at this point that Ohio State looks like it has the best shot at winning the region, but you never know. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Issaquah School of Interior Design won the whole thing!

Previously:
March Madness: First-round results
March Madness 2010: My picks

It’s only the end of first round of the NCAA tournament, and my bracket is already pretty bruised. Out of the 32 first-round games, I missed 9, giving me a percentage of 72%. Ouch.

Biggest upset: Murray State’s win over Vanderbilt, who I’d picked to make it to the Final Four. Seriously, did anyone in America pick No. 13 Murray State to pick off No. 4 Vandy? No, of course not! Not even the mother of the Murray State coach. Other big upsets: No. 14 Ohio over No. 3 Georgetown, No. 12 Cornell over No. 5 Temple, and No. 11 Old Dominion over No. 6 Notre Dame.

Upsets I actually got right: No. 11 Washington beating No. 6 Marquette and No. 9 Northern Iowa beating No. 8 UNLV.

Closest call: No. 2 Villanova’s 3-point overtime victory over No. 15 Robert Morris. Others: BYU’s double-overtime win vs. Florida, Tennessee’s 3-point win vs. San Diego State, and Michigan State’s 3-point win vs. New Mexico State.

Not even close: Kentucky’s beatdown of East Tennessee State, 100-71.

Biggest disappointment: The Longhorns’ 1-point loss in overtime to Wake Forest. Not that Texas would’ve made it past Kentucky, but it would’ve been nice to win at least one game. It was, though, a fitting end to what has been a miserable season. As one sports commentator put it, “From No. 1 to one-and-done.”

Prognostications: No. 1 seeds Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke looked pretty solid, but Syracuse was a little shaky. As a result, I’m thinking Kansas State may be the Final Four choice for the West region. And if Villanova makes it to the Elite Eight, I’ll be shocked.

Alright, bring on Round 2!

Previously:
March Madness 2010: My picks

Last year, I posted my picks to win the NCAA men’s tournament while admittedly not knowing enough about the teams to make even a reasonable guess. And of course, I completely blew it. (Thank you, Pitt.)

But I’m trying again this year, a little more educated and a lot more hopeful. OK, so I really don’t know how hopeful I am, but who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky.

Breaking it down by region:

Midwest. aka “The Group of Death.” The Midwest is tricky because there are a lot of wildcards, teams that are probably seeded too high (Ohio State), and others that are probably too low (Tennessee). I think the Buckeyes will make it past Oklahoma State, but the Vols will knock them off to make it to the Elite Eight. No. 1 Kansas should survive, though, and win the region.

East. As a huge Texas fan, I would love to pick the Horns here, but they’ve completely blown it this season. And a result, they have a horrible spot on the bracket. They can probably make it past Wake Forest, but they won’t survive Kentucky. As for most of the rest of the region, there will probably be a few upsets, but it’s still going to come down between the Wildcats and West Virginia. Look for Kentucky to go to the Final Four.

West. The West seems like a weird region to me, chock full of great teams, any of which could be spoilers but none of which strike me as national champions. Pitt let me down last year, and though they should make it to the Elite Eight, I’m not confident they can go any further. I’m calling an upset of No. 1 seed Syracuse by Vanderbilt, who’ll go on to win the region and make it the Final Four.

South. I’m really rooting for Baylor, and I think they can hold their own for a couple of games. But I think Villanova will probably beat them to face Duke in the Elite Eight. But I’m gonna have to play it safe and pick Duke to win the region.

Final Four. Will three of the four top-seeded teams make it to the Final Four? Yeah, that’s me hedging my bets to some degree. Last year, I predicted some bigger upsets and got burned pretty bad. The Jayhawks will beat Vandy, and Kentucky will hold out to beat Duke.

Championship. I’m not really a Kansas fan, but they’ve been one of the most consistent and dominant teams in college basketball all year. And even if I get my other Final Four picks wrong, I still think the Jayhawks can and will win the national title.

Here is my full bracket. Click to enlarge.

Previously:
March Madness: My picks
More March Madness is, well, madness

While college football fans may be begging for a playoff system, they should probably be careful what they ask for. At least if the NCAA basketball tournament is any indication. If the NCAA and coaches get their way, the current 65-team March Madness tournament could expand to as many as 96 teams, adding up to a mind-boggling 31 extra games to the schedule. (And you thought filling out your bracket was tough before!)

BCS proponents argue that in basketball, the already-bloated playoff system makes the regular season irrelevant, and if that’s true, then a 96-team playoff would make it even more so. That alone should be reason enough not to fatten the tournament any more than it is.  But Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel points out another reason, one that would drastically affect college football as well:

One more point to consider in this story. If the tournament does expand to 96 teams, this could pave the way for superconference expansion. The idea of superconferences has been batted around for quite some time, and gained steam again when the Big Ten said it is considering expanding and could add more than one team. With more teams being allowed into the NCAA tournament, all conferences would have the green light to expand. Why? Because they wouldn’t have to worry about their teams beating up on each other and missing March Madness. Even the middle-of-the-pack teams would get in.

What would that mean to college football? It would essentially give even greater power to the traditional conferences and schools. All the non-BCS conferences, including the Mountain West and WAC, would become irrelevant because its good teams would be poached. The more powerful conferences would raid the not-so-powerful conferences. TV deals would explode, giving more cash to many programs that are already rolling in it. In essence, the face of college football would be totally changed.

To say this is all about money is of course just stating the obvious. And of course, just like with the BCS, the fans are on the losing end of the deal. March Madness is big enough already, probably even too big considering how lopsided many of the first-round games usually are. The last thing we need is to make it bigger, especially if it threatens non-BCS conferences such as the Mountain West.

Previously:
Legislating a playoff system isn’t the answer

I normally don’t follow college basketball; there are just too many games. But I do tend to get caught up in March Madness. Not to the point of bringing a TV and rabbit ears to work like a former co-worker of mine used to do every year, but I do enjoy watching games when I can.

That said, here are my pics for the men’s tournament. Yes, most of them are safe bets while a few are probably long shots. (Predicted winner in parentheses) Discuss.

Sweet 16.
Pitt vs. Florida State (Pitt)
Duke vs. Villanova (Villanova)
Louisville vs. Wake Forest (Louisville)
Kansas vs. Michigan State (Kansas)
LSU vs. Gonzaga (LSU)
OU vs. Syracuse (OU)
UConn vs. Purdue (UConn)
Missouri vs. Memphis (Memphis)

Elite 8.
Pitt vs. Villanova (Pitt)
Louisville vs. Kansas (Kansas)
LSU vs. OU (LSU)
UConn vs. Memphis (UConn)

Final Four.
Pitt vs. LSU (Pitt)
Kansas vs. UConn (UConn)

Championship.
Pitt vs. UConn (Pitt)

There you go. Let the madness begin.