The blogosphere is an interesting place that I do not pay much attention to. I don’t know if it still believes it holds some sort of sway that it once did, but I do know that when the blogosphere comes together with a reaction I usually have two reactions of my own: first, whatever the issue that gets bloggers all upset seems like not a big deal to me or the result of odd circumstances (see the blogosphere’s reaction to the Carrier Classic games that got cancelled in the early college basketball season). My other reaction is to choose to go the other way and disagree with the seeming consensus. This is how I feel about expanding the NCAA tournament, which possibly every college basketball writer may be against.
The reasons that college basketball writers are against expanding the tournament are multifarious and mostly inane. The main objection seems to be that the NCAA tournament is perfect as is and shouldn’t be changed at all. In this regard, the blogosphere is like a four-year-old who is offered something different to eat. How do you know you won’t like it if you don’t try it? Another objection is that this is an obvious money grab by the NCAA. I don’t understand this objection at all, since the NCAA is supposedly a non-profit organization (information provided by NCAA Final Four From TicketCity). I have never understood the objection for anything that “it was just about the money.” Who wouldn’t do anything for money? Isn’t this the basis for almost all of reality television? Since when, in America, is it wrong to make money?
If there is anything I agree with the blogosphere, it is that I don’t particularly care for the NCAA insisting that the first round is somehow the “second round.” The First Four does not constitute “a round” since such a small percentage of teams are playing. This seems like some backdoor way to shoehorn more games into the tournament. Have some intestinal fortitude (as they’d say in the wrestling world), NCAA, and get us more games, but don’t try to sneak in through the backdoor. By the way, I like the First Four and think it is a good first step into expanding the tournament.
Once again, I realize that I am not a casual fan and that I like college basketball more than most people. For example, I don’t think the casual fan realizes that there are 150 games during the regular season every weekend. Is that too much basketball? Championship weekend explodes with conference tournaments after which most teams will be finished for the season. This might not appeal to most people, but it seems like it is hard thing for basketball fans to stay away from. Why, then would anyone be opposed to opening the tournament to another round or two?
While I don’t know if the NCAA is going to endure as an entity (the schools may eventually just remove the NCAA and let all of the money filter into their pockets), I do think that the NCAA basketball tournament is their crowning achievement. I know expanding the tournament would kill all of the bubble talk that college basketball seems to feed on in February and early March. It would also reduce the so-called meaning of the regular season (as if any of this stuff has any real meaning). However, it would be exciting. What if a 27-seed burst its way through the bracket and started knocking off top-rated teams? All sorts of interesting scenarios are bubbling up in my mind, but I seem to be the only one imagining them rather than holding onto what we already have.
Perry Missner is a college basketball enthusiast who writes for RotoWire along with several other fantasy outlets. He welcomes your comments on Twitter at @PerryMissner or via email at [email protected]
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