March Madness: Mixed emotions on Tournament expansion

Usually, the saying is “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

As far… Usually, the saying is “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

As far as the NCAA Tournament goes, the buzz and competitiveness surrounding March Madness isn’t something that needs improvement.

But despite a lucrative television contract with CBS and the greatest single-sheet-of-paper marketing tool in the world — the bracket — NCAA Tournament expansion might occur soon enough to generate more dollars.

There’s no doubt this expansion would competitively help more mid-major teams make the Tournament. The question for Big East coaches is how would it help teams in arguably the best conference in the nation?

Several coaches have commented, but their answers vary.

Consider Villanova Head Coach Jay Wright’s plea. Wright has gone on record in the past as a supporter of expanding the NCAA Tournament field. Last month, he spoke those same words citing that the game has grown beyond the limits of a 65-team tournament.

“When I first became a Division I head coach I think there were 297 teams. Now there’s 347. The Tournament has stayed the same size,” Wright said in a conference call. “The game has grown, all of the conferences have grown, the mid-major programs have grown. There’s just so many more good teams out there.”

He also said there are teams out there who think their seasons are failures only if they miss the NCAA Tournament. In this case, they could have had a great season despite it.

“It’s still a great honor to make the Tournament even if they increase it to 96. You can look at college football, maybe 50 percent get to go to bowl games,” Wright said, “But I think [tournament expansion] is past its time, and I’m really excited that we’re considering it.”

The NCAA Tournament has been altered just once since 1985, when it expanded from 53 to 65 teams. Coincidentally, Villanova won its first national title in 1985 in the expanded tournament.

The widely reported proposal from the NCAA is expanding the teams in the tournament from 65 to 96. The NCAA is in the eighth year of an 11-year $6 billion contract with CBS for the rights to March Madness. The deal accounts for more than 90 percent of the organization’s annual revenue.

The NCAA could opt out of its CBS deal for an even more lucrative contract thanks to a clause that allows the NCAA to opt out of the final three years, with no obligation to CBS, if it does so by July 31. Upon doing so, the NCAA is an unrestricted free agent to the bidding of television networks in the United States.

In potentially expanding the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA is making itself look more profitable and attractive to networks. Especially since last year’s North Carolina-Michigan State championship game drew the lowest Nielsen rating since the game viewership has been tracked.

There are others who are a little more skeptical.

Connecticut Head Coach Jim Calhoun seemed to waver on the idea of expanding the amount of revenue generated from the NCAA’s postseason tournament.

“I’m opposed to [expansion] in the sense that it will make 99 percent of the money,” Calhoun said in a conference call. “I’ve always thought it was an honor and privilege to be one of those 65 teams, and I do think the increase, if it’s better for the game and someone can show me why it is, then I would say yes. If it’s just to make additional money, then I’d say no.”

Yet Calhoun is a rare breed of dissenters among coaches.

Many more high-profile head coaches, such as Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Florida’s Billy Donovan, continue to support expansion publicly. Others, such as Pitt’s Jamie Dixon, have questioned to the media how the Tournament would be feasible.

“He didn’t understand how they would go about seeding the teams, and more importantly he wondered well, you’re already playing until the first week in April now, you’ll be adding an extra weekend,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Ray Fittipaldo said.

Fittipaldo, who covers Pitt basketball for the Post-Gazette, also added he wouldn’t see how Pitt would benefit from such an expansion unless it received funds from a new TV contract.

He also added the Tournament should avoid byes, because based on three Big East squads losing in their first games off double-byes in the Big East tournament last week, extra days of rest aren’t a benefit.

But the prospect of expansion has caught the eyes of all Big East coaches, with more supporters emerging than doubters.

“I would like to see the Tournament expanded,” Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III said in a conference call, who added that he never thought about how many teams should be invited or how an expanded tournament would be constructed. “At the end of the day, I would like to see it opened up and see more teams get a chance to compete.”

The NCAA still faces a ton of questions about its Tournament expansion proposal. But we’re already seeing Big East coaches take sides. In the coming months, this issue should resurface, and more and more coaches will give their opinions on the expansion idea.