No.
No, no, no.
Evidently spurred on by coaches like Jim Boeheim (famous for bravely scheduling a brutal non-conference schedule full of home games against the likes of Cornell and Colgate), the NCAA is considering expanding the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, possibly to as many as 80 teams.
Ridiculous. 64 (or 65) is a perfect number. It allows for three full weekends of games and gives every team in the country a reasonable shot of getting in. It’s not too easy and not too hard.
Expanding the number of teams is fueled by a noxious combination of greed and cowardice. More games equals more money and more teams in equals fewer teams left out. Coaches know that they are often judged by the number of tournament fields they make, so they want to do to basketball what has happened with college bowls – make it so nearly everyone gets in.
It’s just stupid. The tournament is far, far from broken. Don’t try to fix it. And don’t let John Swofford near it.