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Myron Medcalf, ESPN editor
ORLANDO, Fla. — Michigan State coach Tom Izzo questions the merit of expanding the NCAA tournament – a decision that could be made in the coming months – beyond its current field of 68 teams.
Izzo said the expansion could diminish the multibillion-dollar product that defines the sport. There have been discussions of a 96-team field in recent years.
“I just think it’s going to be watered down,” Izzo told ESPN on Thursday during the NBPA Top 100 camp at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando. “I’m a little worried about that. I wouldn’t mind if they did that, but I’m worried that if it’s watered down, it won’t be good. … I think 68 has been a pretty good number. I think you get enough good matches in the first round. That’s me.
But there was no consensus on the subject at the Top 100 Camp, a showcase for America’s best high school basketball players, including Flory Bidunga (Aspect #4 of the Class of 2024, per ESPN), Cam Boozer (No. 1 of the class of 2025) and Cooper Flagg (No. 2 in 2025).
At the Final Four in April, new NCAA President Charlie Baker said the committee deliberating the issue could make a recommendation on possible expansion by late summer or early 2015. ‘autumn.
Kansas coach Bill Self said the time for expansion was approaching because the transfer portal was changing the depth of men’s basketball.
“I think what will determine (the expansion) is the gate because there will be more good teams because I think less teams will be able to dive,” he said. “Everyone will stay at a higher level. … Maybe it’s time to get really serious about (expansion). If the portal does what we think it’s going to do, then it will be time.”
Miami head coach Jim Larranaga was a star at Providence in 1971 when his team lost to Villanova in a game that cost the Friars a chance to go to the NCAA tournament, which then included only 25 schools. Villanova reached the national title game, where it lost to UCLA 68-62. Larranaga, who led Miami to its first Final Four in April, said he still wants the chance to play in the tournament.
“I say we should go to 96 forever,” Larranaga said. “If the NCAA Tournament is every college basketball team’s most important goal, but only 18 percent of kids get to experience it and every year at least half the field is The year before and the year before… it makes sense. to expand it and offer this experience to more student-athletes.
However, even among pro-expansion coaches, the number of teams to be added is also polarizing.
Bruce Pearl, who coached at UW-Milwaukee before working at Tennessee and Auburn, said he would support only minor expansion of the platoon.
“I think when we went from 64 to 68 (teams), it didn’t hurt anything,” Pearl said. “I would be (in favor of) adding a handful of teams. You can say, ‘Well, every year there will be four or five teams that are left out of the tournament.’ OK? So let’s add four. I’m not for blowing it. I’m not for 96.”
Some coaches at the Orlando camp have first-hand experience with the challenges of a 68-team field. Although Micah Shrewsberry ended Penn State’s 12-year NCAA Tournament drought last season after a strong finish that helped the Nittany Lions sneak onto the field, he had to lead his team to the title game of the Big Ten tournament to get that 10th seed. He said the expansion would ensure that America’s top teams, especially at the lower levels of the sport, would have a chance to compete for a national title.
“I think it’s time for us to expand,” said Shrewsberry, now Notre Dame’s head coach. “You don’t want to get involved in it because the tournament is so good. But there are good teams that are left out of it. It also attracts more mid-majors. You want to get all the best. You think about the teams that have won their league at a lower level and just because they don’t play well in those three days (of a conference tournament), they don’t go to the NCAA tournament. This team could be a team that makes the Sweet 16.”
While the expansion of the NCAA Tournament is one of the important issues currently being addressed by sports officials, the future of the NCAA itself is also a factor. Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said it’s unclear if expansion goes ahead who would handle the decision.
“It’s the only thing the NCAA has,” he said. “And among all the changes, what will the NCAA be in charge of in the future? Are they in charge of the transfer portal? Are they in charge of NIL? Ultimately, will they be in charge of the tournament ?So it’s hard to know what it’s going to look like in five years. Are we still going to have the NCAA Tournament as we know it?
