The Old 96er

Rumors have been swirling regarding the NCAA expanding the current format for the men's basketball tournament from 64 to 96 teams. It's seeming more and more evident that this is going to happen and I have a couple of questions.

1. Why?

2. What about the NIT?

The answer to why is easy, it means more money. But really, at what cost? There are a handful of bubble schools each year that do not make the big dance but are they really missed? Sure, it's heartbreak for the school's that do not make the cut but is the answer to expand by 32 more teams? Would that not mean that nearly every D1 school in the country makes it? Why? As a graduate of a very small, private school that has made the NCAAs once in the last twenty years, they are surely not worthy of that call. They barely make it out of the NEC and I do not get the point of this school, or similar schools, making it to the tourney. Does it not cheapen the value of a tournament berth? 

As for the NIT, the answer is that it becomes instantly irrelevant. The tournament went from being a big deal to being a quasi-big deal for the bubble teams, to now being virtually eliminated from the face of college basketball.

I'm a purist in the sense that I think the current format works fine and has for years. Heck, even the play-in game adds some excitement for two schools that even some of the bigger college basketball fans have never dreamed of, but enough is enough. 65 teams more than saturates the field and we're ultimately left watching a good number of inferior teams that ultimately get weeded out early and often (read this year's overrated Big East crop.)

Lastly, from an academic perspective, isn't the goal of the student-athlete to pursue the student part as well as the athletic part? For a number of teams, this tourney currently drags on longer than it needs to and that ultimately pulls the student out of the ever-important classroom. Sure, if this question is raised we'll be spoon fed a line of BS about study hall, tutoring, etc. whilst on the road but why buy that? At the end of the day, the NBA forced a mandatory one year sentence in the NCAA for no apparent reason other than some pressure. But to then turnaround and pull that student out of class for a handful of weeks at a clip (not taking into account the already light schedule and cushy atmosphere for a college athlete at a large program) diminishes any reason for said player to be in college in the first place.

So why not just open the tournament to every D1 school that has a team right now? And in a decade or so, decide that the D2 schools should get a crack at it too because they're out there and those guys feel left out. The whole thing's a joke to begin with and only garners the interest level it is at because of the rampant gambling in tournament pools. Remove the gambling and the interest wanes to the level of watching Wendy Williams without the assistance of acid. How you doin'?