(01-31-2019 11:22 AM)ken d Wrote:  The size of the NCAA field really isn't the main point. It's merely a byproduct of the size of the top division in (or apart from) the NCAA. And as lucrative as the tournament is, that won't be what drives the bus when it comes to deciding who will be in that top division and whether or not it will still be part of the NCAA. Football will dictate that.

In my view of how that will ultimately evolve, I expect it won't just be schools now in a P5 conference. And I don't believe there will be a complete reset for conferences when it happens. I think conferences in the top level will look much the same as they do now. Could it be as many as 150 schools? Maybe. But I think it would at least start out at no more than the 101 schools I posited.

At that size, I don't think a national basketball tournament would warrant a field of 64 teams. 32 would be roughly one third of all those teams. If you are going to have 64, you might as well just include everybody. I wouldn't want to do that. If the top division were to grow to 150 schools, 64 teams wouldn't be as bad. But very few of the 50 additional schools would get into that field - you would just have more teams from what is now the P5. I don't see the point of, or need for, that kind of evolution.

IMO, if the NCAA were to decide tomorrow to stop giving out free money for schools just because they want to call themselves DI, a significant number of them would opt to play at a division more suited to their ability and their resources. As Ronald Reagan famously said, if you want to get more of something, subsidize it. If you want less, tax it. The NCAA is subsidizing membership in DI. If they taxed it (by having higher barriers to entry) they would have fewer members. In my view, that would be better for sport.

Clearly, not everyone agrees with that.

I don't disagree with all of it. I think a football separation is more likely to happen and is more warranted but I don't see the need to have the shift effect all DIV 1 sports. They could create another subdivision for football as the have now.

I'll admit there are probably some or plenty of Div 1 schools that aren't investing and don't have the support to warrant being Div 1. Those are the low majors though. Where and how you cut the line would cut out a lot of schools that have better programs and support than many that would be included.

I don't really care though about the MEAC or SWAC getting a shot at the NCAA tourney. I don't think leaving them out would significantly improve the tourney, if anything it leaves the door open for the historic upsets like UMBC over UVA last year, which are fun (unless you're a Wahoo) for most sports fans. It gets get people talking and increases the interest in the tourney. Most likely the #1 seed will roll over whoever the bottom seed is regardless of conference. The only reason I see for doing it is to further consolidate money at the top, which is not a goal I think sports fans do or should have. Watch the NBA if you want the best of the best.

I do know there would be little desire to go back to a 32 team field because Turner is making a lot of money of those first two days and it's just been growing.