(08-18-2023 06:32 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(08-18-2023 06:30 PM)Scoochpooch1 Wrote:  

(08-18-2023 06:15 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  NCAAT is already too watered down, 68 teams is plenty.

This board won't be happy until it's 256 teams.

You're thinking too small, all of DI in a double-elimination format.

Nah, I think we can all agree Chicago St doesn’t deserve to make the field. 255 will do

The NCAA Tournament feels "watered down" because of the selection procedure changes (aka NET) following the ouster of Greg Shaheen.

Greg Shaheen was the NCAA guy in charge of the Selection Committee: Basically he TOLD THEM HOW to select the field, what to consider, what not to consider, how to assess the difference between "BCS" bubble teams and non-BCS bubble teams.

The field used to be largely selected by the RPI (objective data), instead of by what school/conference affiliated committee members THINK about the strength of teams (personal bias).

When conferences expanded, BCS resumes got worse (losing more games as the bigger conferences got harder). The BCS folks wanted to get more bids (aka more money), so they ousted Shaheen and found a way to justify taking more BCS teams with mediocre resumes by changing the selection criteria.

You're getting a bracket where the teams who are LEGIT GOOD but didn't have computer numbers to match are buried in 7 vs 10 games (against each other, eliminating one so they BOTH can't earn NCAA Unit loot!) or left out entirely (Take a look at mid-major #1 NIT seeds over the last eight years). And the last 8-10 spots in the field are going to BCS teams who went 3-11 vs good teams all regular season and are statistically UNLIKELY to pull upsets against different good teams, so the upset percentages go down.

The upset percentages of 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 seeds have gone UP since the bracket expanded -- because those teams are the same quality as always, but "half a seed line" lower. But overall upsets are DOWN because they're actively TRYING to make the tournament titled in favor of the top 29 Power Conference teams.

(08-19-2023 05:14 AM)CardinalJim Wrote:  

(08-19-2023 12:40 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  

(08-18-2023 11:59 PM)NoQuarterBrigade Wrote:  

(08-18-2023 04:23 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(08-18-2023 04:20 PM)DawgNBama Wrote:  As we can tell, this realignment wave has been mainly about football. However, the other shoe, basketball, has yet to drop, and it's scaring a lot of the OG in collehe basketball, IMO. Mark my words, the NCAA tourny will be shrinking in the future. It's only a matter of time, IMO.

March Madness is the NCAA's cash cow. Alternate take, they expand it to milk it further.

I feel like it is at a perfect size now, but I am with you on this one, the greed will take hold and they’ll expand. Hard for me to see it shrinking. Too much money in it.

Think of it this way: how much more money could ESPN, Fox, & CBS make from the Tournament if only major conferences were involved, not low majors or mid-majors. That's what coming, I fear!! The networks will sell this as "well, we're kind of strapped for cash, and all of you other teams will just have to accept this. $$'s is too tight. This was the only way we could save March Madness." (Supposedly).

You know how some March Madness aren't very good, but some are extremely goid?? Think of all of March Madness being "must see tv." Kind of like NBC's old slogan, if not their old slogan!!

It would be a shame to see the tournament eliminate the Cinderellas. That’s what makes the NCAA tournament special. I haven’t watched a regular since college basketball game in almost a decade and even I watch the NCAA tournament. Not for the Dukes, Kansas or Indiana type programs but for the Loyola of Chicago’s and Sister Jean or the Steve Fisher’s at Michigan who step into the spotlight when the head coach takes another job and promptly leads the team to an NCAA title.

That’s why I watch the tournament.

When I lived in California, my staff there couldn’t understand why my entire factory in Louisville would work the weekend before so they could be off for opening Thursday and Friday of the NCAA Tournament.

My boss, a lifelong Californian, would tell them you don’t understand, basketball is a religion in Louisville and Kentucky. He would say I’ve never seen anything like it. He’s right there isn’t.

I don't pay much attention to those TH/F games even when UK and Texas are playing, unless it is an 8 vs. 9 game.

(08-22-2023 01:39 PM)JSchmack Wrote:  The NCAA Tournament feels "watered down" because of the selection procedure changes (aka NET) following the ouster of Greg Shaheen.

Greg Shaheen was the NCAA guy in charge of the Selection Committee: Basically he TOLD THEM HOW to select the field, what to consider, what not to consider, how to assess the difference between "BCS" bubble teams and non-BCS bubble teams.

The field used to be largely selected by the RPI (objective data), instead of by what school/conference affiliated committee members THINK about the strength of teams (personal bias).

When conferences expanded, BCS resumes got worse (losing more games as the bigger conferences got harder). The BCS folks wanted to get more bids (aka more money), so they ousted Shaheen and found a way to justify taking more BCS teams with mediocre resumes by changing the selection criteria.

You're getting a bracket where the teams who are LEGIT GOOD but didn't have computer numbers to match are buried in 7 vs 10 games (against each other, eliminating one so they BOTH can't earn NCAA Unit loot!) or left out entirely (Take a look at mid-major #1 NIT seeds over the last eight years). And the last 8-10 spots in the field are going to BCS teams who went 3-11 vs good teams all regular season and are statistically UNLIKELY to pull upsets against different good teams, so the upset percentages go down.

The upset percentages of 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 seeds have gone UP since the bracket expanded -- because those teams are the same quality as always, but "half a seed line" lower. But overall upsets are DOWN because they're actively TRYING to make the tournament titled in favor of the top 29 Power Conference teams.

12 and 13 have always done pretty well because they are usually underrated mid-major conference champs.