AP News, March 13th, 2007
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has plenty of support from Big 12 coaches for expanding the NCAA tournament.
Boeheim, a longtime proponent of including more teams, was surprised Sunday when the Orange were snubbed by the selection committee. That brought another round of calls from coaches Monday to expand the tournament to at least 68 teams, if not more.
"If the field is designed to get the best 64 teams in _ if that was the design _ then from that standpoint you'd think it needs to be modified," Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Expanding the tournament talk usually bridges the gap between selection Sunday and the start of the NCAA tournament Thursday. It's the rallying cry of every fan whose team was passed over and every coach whose job security is measured by postseason appearances.
Expansion has been slow, though. The last major move came in 1985, when the field increased to 64 from 53 teams. The NCAA added a play-in game in 2001, when the number of automatic bids increased by one to 31.
Also, open spots have become harder to earn with more and more programs joining Division I.
Since 1985, the number of Division I teams has grown to 336 from 282. The increase has been most pronounced since 1993, when scholarship cuts spread talent around and created even more parity.
Last year, mid-majors excelled, with George Mason reaching the Final Four and Bradley and Wichita State making the final 16. Those berths came at the expense of heavyweight conferences such as the ACC and Big 12.
"There's just so many good teams these days, and so many good players," Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie said after his team received an at-large bid. "I don't know the perfect number, but I definitely think we should expand."
Expanding the field would need more than the approval of the schools. CBS signed an 11-year, $6 billion deal with the NCAA in 1999 for broadcast rights except for the play-in game. That deal extended a seven-year, $1.725 billion contract and locks up the tournament through 2013.
"If it's advantageous to them, then the field will expand," Self said. "Television will play a huge role in that."
Last June, the NCAA men's basketball committee rejected a proposal by several coaches to nearly double the size of the field to 128, calling the expansion unnecessary. It also voted down an offer to increase the number of opening-round games in Dayton, Ohio.
Texas coach Rick Barnes believes that concept is worth revisiting.
"From the time we started that play-in game, I never quite understood why we wouldn't have four of them, one for each site," he said.
By adding three more lines to the bracket, teams like Syracuse, Kansas State and Drexel might have gotten in. The Orange (22-10) won seven of their last 10 games and went 10-6 in the Big East, while Kansas State (22-11) routed tourney-bound Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.
Drexel (23-8) has a big gripe for not making the tournament after winning 13 regular-season games on the road. The Dragons' RPI of 39 was better than eight other at-large selections, including fellow Colonial Athletic Association member Old Dominion.
"When they first started, the intent was to put teams in the tournament that would have the chance to advance," Gillispie said. "There's probably more teams today than ever before that if they get an opportunity or the chance, they would succeed."
