Subscribe
Follow Us
Is more always better? Regarding March Madness and the NCAA Tournament, Miami basketball head coach Jim Larranga thinks it is. With his team gearing up for the Final Four, Larranaga spoke to reporters Thursday and said he's in favor of an expanded field for the tournament.
“Let’s expand the NCAA Tournament to at least 96 teams,” Larranaga said, according to John Fanta.
The NCAA Tournament was expanded to its current 68-team format in 2011 by implementing the First Four. The 64-team tournament started in 1985, the last time an expansion of the magnitude Larranaga is speaking of has happened.
With the excitement that the current format of March Madness has brought over the last 38 years, one can only imagine what a 96-team tournament would bring in terms of entertainment value.
While it has been nearly 40 years since a drastic expansion, it wouldn't be surprising to see a bigger field sooner rather than later. At the end of the day, money talks, and if the NCAA can do anything to make an extra buck they'd surely be open to it.
An expanded field would bring more schools to the most significant event in college basketball. With that, more sponsorships, tv deals and the lot for the NCAA.
The governing body for college athletics has made expansion plans recently with college football, with the College Football Playoff set to expand from four teams to 12 starting in the 2024 season.
If the expansion of the NCAA Tournament does occur some fans of college basketball would likely argue “if it isn't broke, don't fix it.”
On the other side, why would anyone argue against more March Madness?
