NCAA Tournament has better solution to problem than expansion

FRISCO, Texas — There's a lot of talk about wanting to add even more teams to an already bloated NCAA basketball tournament field.

The question here is why, and is there a better solution that ups the quality of the product rather than diluting it? The answer to why can't be because people feel the No. 69 team in the country has a legitimate chance to win the national title and everyone is being deprived of the magical run as a result.

At best, in a perfect scenario, that team is going two, at most, three rounds deep before reality sets in. Although, that trip most likely ends as soon as the team steps on the floor against a much more qualified team in the first round.

The likely driver behind all of this is the same culprit it always is when it comes to college sports — money. More games equals more television revenue and networks struggling to draw audiences certainly aren't turning away more live programming that keeps people locked in on the channel.

That's why the solution here is rather clear. There's no need to drag in a few more unworthy teams to up the number of games.

All college basketball needs is a format change and the solution is currently staring them in the face. Right now, it takes 48 games to get to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

However, if basketball were to adopt the college baseball format, not only would the drama and atmosphere surrounding the event go way up, but the number of games a network can show leading up to the Sweet 16 more than doubles.

This year, college baseball played 102 games to narrow the 64-team field down to 16. That's a lot of programming left on the table and it took a single weekend just like the college basketball tournament.

This is because of the double elimination format adopted at the regional level of college baseball. It ensures not only maximum entertainment while guaranteeing a full weekend experience for all four fan bases appearing at a site, but the best team advances on to the next round.

For those who are unfamiliar with the baseball format, gone are the relatively empty neutral sites with no distinguishable atmosphere. Instead, the Top 16 teams each host a regional made up of four teams seeded one through four unless one of the Top 16 has a facility deemed not fit to host such a major event.

For instance, this past season would have seen Auburn, Duke, Florida, Houston, Michigan St., Alabama, St. John's, Tennessee, Iowa St., Wisconsin, Texas Tech, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Maryland, Purdue and Arizona hosting regionals. Just imagine how much better the atmosphere would have been at those venues in a double-elimination format rather than a soulless, generic, empty arena with no distinguishable floor.

An example of one of the regionals would have been Auburn (1), Louisville (2), Liberty (3), Alabama St. (4) with Auburn starting off with Alabama St. and Louisville facing off with Liberty in the opening games. Another possible regional would be the Lubbock Regional with Texas Tech (1), Kansas (2), Arkansas (3) and Omaha (4).

That would be a beast of a double elimination tournament full of drama. Arkansas beat Kansas, 79-72, and lost to Texas Tech in overtime, 85-83. Just picture the ratings for an Arkansas-Kansas rematch in an elimination game followed by a rematch of Arkansas-Texas Tech.

If that went down to a third and deciding game between the Razorbacks and Red Raiders after a pair of close games, the networks would be thrilled, as would general college basketball fans.

And while basketball plays a single game to get from 16 teams down to eight, college baseball spends a weekend playing a best-of-three series, potentially tripling the number of games in the most intense setting imaginable.

Ratings tend to dwindle a little the further the tournament goes because people lose interest, but if the weekend can be spent watching a three-game series between Duke and Arizona at Cameron Indoor Arena for the chance to be one of the final eight teams competing for the national championship, that's simply begging networks to print money.

The third weekend would be a pair of four-team double elimination tournaments for the right to play in the championship series. This is the first time the event departs from the rowdy home atmospheres of college campuses.

However, by this point, things have gotten big enough to actually fill an arena such as the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Instead of a lackluster six total games to narrow things down to the final two teams, fans and networks will be treated to up to 14 games to determine the finalists.

On one side would be Auburn, Duke, Michigan St. and Alabama battling it out in a double-elimination tournament. On the other would be Florida, Texas Tech, Houston and Tennessee.

That's a lot of quality basketball that will draw attention and pack an arena over and over again as the two sides take turns filling the floor with excitement and large crowds getting their money's worth.

All of that then leads to a best-of-three series the following weekend for it all. Not a single game on a Monday night.

A full series filled with drama. Yes, Florida won the opening game, 65-63, but how big would it be knowing such a dramatic win would be followed by a second and possibly third game between the two? That's great television.

In the end, that's a possible 167 games full of drama that networks could snatch up. It's also a stronger guarantee that the best teams advance while giving everyone more opportunity in a better game atmosphere without diluting the quality of teams on the court.

Yes, there will be instances where some teams will have to play twice in a single day, but that's something players do all the time in high school and AAU Tournaments depending on where they played. Doing it once in a weekend as part of a consequence of losing isn't going to do much to affect players in the long run.

Kansas probably would have jumped at the chance to play a second game several hours after losing to Arkansas for a chance to keep its national championship dream alive. It's hard to imagine a team not wanting to regroup and have another go for a shot to keep advancing.

The whole approach also adds intrigue to the end of the season. The focus would no longer be on teams at the bottom scrapping to possibly be the last to get in.

The teams that often coast toward the end, especially when it comes to conference tournaments, would now have incentive to try.

Landing a national seed, especially those who finish with a Top 8 seed, is a big deal. Getting to host a regional and then a super regional, spending two full weeks heading out to an NCAA Tournament basketball game from the comfort of one's own bed, is more than enough reason to not mail it in down the stretch.

It's the shot in the arm college basketball needs. Casual fans aren't familiar with the players and the product anymore.

This format not only ups the intensity, it increases the exposure, allowing time for more household names to develop over the course of the tournament. That means not only more games, but more viewers who are likely to follow along as names and faces become more recognizable.

And of course, that means more of the most important thing in this equation.
Money.