Tournament Field Expanded to 68
While pundits calling for a college football playoff are still left unsatisfied, college basketball fans will enjoy a few more elimination games come tourney time next March. The NCAA has decided to extend its March Madness tournament from 65 to 68 teams, marking the first expansion of the field since 2001, when the play-in game was added to take the total from 64 to 65. The new format features three additional play-in games to be played in the week following Selection Sunday, determining what programs will at least survive to see the weekend. Dubbed the “First Four” to play off of the well known “Final Four” moniker, the first 8 teams to play will consist of the lowest 4 at-large teams (teams that did not secure an automatic bid by winning their conference tournament) and the mid-major conference winners with the least impressive resumes. The 4 at-large teams are expected to play each other for the right to advance as a 12 seed, with the automatic qualifiers continuing to battle it out for a 16 seed. Once the initial four games are completed, tournament play will carry on as it has in years past, with rounds of 64, 32, 16, 8, 4 and 2.The changes will force the tournament selection committee to formally reveal the last four teams to be let in the field for the first time in tournament history, though the subject is often speculated when analysts discuss surprises and snubs. Initial reaction to the expansion format has been received with mixed results so far. One complaint is that teams seeded 13-15 will have a distinct advantage over the 12 seed by not having to play their way into the tournament, which quite simply defies mathematical logic. After all, a team seeded 12th is supposed to be more well-qualified, so why place them in an undeserved hole? While the new tourney structure certainly has some reasoning issues, the common basketball fan will at least enjoy 3 more competitive games to kick off the Big Dance.