This idea came to me after people mentioned the English Premiere League and how they have different tournaments between levels, though the top level is still king and it's own thing.

My idea is have 2 tournaments! Play in your level (an/a 8/16-team series based tournament if you're smart) in one between those with the most power and then play one with the bottom level included in a single elimination affair, possibly Division 1-AA if it's called that. This would allow for the Powers That Be to have more revenue and control yet still not destroy their cash cow, which is the NCAA Tournament of the current paradigm. Such a setup can still exist on some level, just make it a Tournament between different levels, just like a soccer tournament.

You still get to have Cinderellas and unheard of schools that never get airtime that could become national sensations and draw ratings and fans. Yet you don't have to subsidize them so much and give them so many auto-bids. Such a tournament doesn't even have to be officially an NCAA one and can be exhibitions (perhaps with a large pay out to incentivize players to play) and be out of control of the governing body, like the NIT historically.

How would you propose fitting the 2 events on the calendar?

That's an interesting question and likely couldn't be done without eating into football season and its captivity or the CWS and its captivity.

But if there's a way to make it happen, it should be done.

Nobody outside of Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Indiana, Connecticut and SW Ohio even cares about college basketball until the Tournament, so they might as well go up against football starting in September. Then they could start one Tournament after the CFP and the other one in March.

As an aside, I'll highlight my point that this would keep the mid-majors and even networks happy. There would still be incentive to watch March Madness even as a lower tier fan because your school would still have a chance to have one shining moment, even if they don't directly compete with the Big Boys on a regular basis anymore. The networks keep their early round intrigue as well and those amazing stories such as St. Peter's, FAU and Loyola of Chicago.

The P5 in basketball and football are Big 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC and MWC. I don't count the Big Least since they would be left behinds as well.

Here's a fantasy to consider. Let's assume that the NCAA goes nuts and expands the tournament field to 88 teams as follows. There are 31 conferences, now that the PAC will no longer be in the race. Most of them are one-bid leagues, and rightly so. There are five remaining “power” conferences for hoops. Because there is no good way to determine which of the other 26 conferences deserve different treatment than the others, have them all play in the first round (Round Zero).

Round Zero consists of 24 games, 48 teams, played over six days (4 games per day) in the week before the Round of 64 (First Round) while AQ conference tournaments are played. Forty teams from the five AQ conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and SEC) have a first-round bye.

The 24 highest ranked non-AQ champions host the two lowest ranked champions plus 22 at-large teams drawn from the 26 non-AQ conferences. There is no limit to the number of at-large bids one of these 26 conferences can earn. The winners of these 24 games advance to Round 1, which will be seeded after completion of Round Zero.

This isn't going to do much for the weakest 20 conferences, but it could do a lot for the mid-major conferences. Those would likely include the A10, AAC, MWC, MVC, and WCC, and occasionally a sixth or seventh conference who would each get multiple at-large bids. Just as likely, they would also get multiple teams in Round 1 that have a realistic chance of winning a game or two once they are in the field of 64. As for the others, they would have the chance to play at home against teams that are more beatable than the #1-4 seeds they now are matched up against.

In this format, the stigma of being relegated to a small play-in group is removed. You are one of 48, not one of 4 as it is in the current format.

But for reasons articulated on other threads, this idea is truly just a fantasy.

(03-09-2024 02:15 PM)ken d Wrote:  Here's a fantasy to consider. Let's assume that the NCAA goes nuts and expands the tournament field to 88 teams as follows. There are 31 conferences, now that the PAC will no longer be in the race. Most of them are one-bid leagues, and rightly so. There are five remaining “power” conferences for hoops. Because there is no good way to determine which of the other 26 conferences deserve different treatment than the others, have them all play in the first round (Round Zero).

Round Zero consists of 24 games, 48 teams, played over six days (4 games per day) in the week before the Round of 64 (First Round) while AQ conference tournaments are played. Forty teams from the five AQ conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and SEC) have a first-round bye.

The 24 highest ranked non-AQ champions host the two lowest ranked champions plus 22 at-large teams drawn from the 26 non-AQ conferences. There is no limit to the number of at-large bids one of these 26 conferences can earn. The winners of these 24 games advance to Round 1, which will be seeded after completion of Round Zero.

This isn't going to do much for the weakest 20 conferences, but it could do a lot for the mid-major conferences. Those would likely include the A10, AAC, MWC, MVC, and WCC, and occasionally a sixth or seventh conference who would each get multiple at-large bids. Just as likely, they would also get multiple teams in Round 1 that have a realistic chance of winning a game or two once they are in the field of 64. As for the others, they would have the chance to play at home against teams that are more beatable than the #1-4 seeds they now are matched up against.

In this format, the stigma of being relegated to a small play-in group is removed. You are one of 48, not one of 4 as it is in the current format.

But for reasons articulated on other threads, this idea is truly just a fantasy.

Just for kicks I used the 2025 alignment and the Pomeroy rankings to see who would get the 22 at-large bids in Round Zero. The results weren't as egalitarian as I expected they would be. The MWC and A10 would have received 14 of the 22 at-large spots. They were followed by the AAC with 3, the MVC and WCC with 2 each, and the Belt had the last one. Even in an 88 team tournament there still would have been 20 one-bid leagues.