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(01-12-2022 12:33 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(01-12-2022 09:23 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(01-12-2022 08:45 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(01-12-2022 08:42 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(01-12-2022 08:28 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Maybe this lights a fire under the commissioners to stop being POSs and get expansion ironed out.

It does make me wonder, if it had been UC vs. Georgia I bet the TV audience would have been larger.

UC-Georgia or Alabama-Michigan both wouldve been far higher than this. You completely region-lock interest when this **** happens every year...Dan Wetzel put into words what I've been trying to tell friends and fans about for years why this iteration is terrible and expanding is the only answer, despite many saying it would be stupid in the past...they are starting to come around.

Either midwestern team against either SEC team would have rated better but I'm not sure how expansion would help championship game ratings. More teams in the playoffs means more opportunities for the better teams to advance; is there really any argument that an expanded playoff doesn't result in Bama vs UGA? Not to mention that if you go to 12 and have 4 SEC teams it's going to happen occasionally where 3 SEC teams get to the semis and hurts the ratings there. The issue is the sport is too regional and that's trending the wrong way as many southern states are expanding population wise at the expense of a lot of midwestern and northeastern states. To compete with you SEC schools you have to recruit nationally or clean up on the west coast if you're USC or Oregon.

More to the point: If an expanded playoff did NOT result in Alabama vs Georgia, would it have been fair to the players & coaches?

Those were clearly the two best teams to anyone who watched the whole year.

If Georgia had hiccupped during a 3-round playoff, that would just cheapen the national title for whoever won it. The current system limits the odds of a crappy Utah team going on a hot streak and stealing a national title that they don't really deserve.

That's my problem with the NCAA basketball tournament. The first week is outstanding, but the end result doesn't really matter to me because the best team rarely wins the tournament.

This is probably a stretch. Let's look at Kenpom rating of the champ in basketball.

2021 Baylor (2) - Gonzaga was 1 and they lost in the finals.
2020- No tournament
2019- Virginia (1)
2018- Villanova (1)
2017- North Carolina (3) - Gonzaga was 1 and lost in the finals
2016- Villanova (1)
2015- Duke (3) - Kentucky was 1, lost in final 4 to Wisconsin who was 2.
2014- Uconn (15) - definitely the weirdest year. Louisville from UConn's conference was 1 (but a 4 seed and lost in the sweet 16).
2013- Louisville (1)
2012- Kentucky (1)

So the last 10 seasons (only 9 tournaments) kenpom number 1 has won the NCAA tournament 5 times. Kenpom number 2 won it once. Kenpom number 3 won it twice. There was one really weird year where Uconn won it. And again, kenpom doesn't necessarily = best team. I think UNC and Baylor were at the level of the Gonzaga teams they beat.

Basically, the tournament is pretty damn good about producing a legit champion.