NCAA proposes March mediocrity

At an NCAA Tournament party inside a South Point ballroom in March, hundreds of college basketball fans gathered for the opening day of games.

They ate (some), drank (a lot) and wagered (even more). They cheered and booed. They shot baskets for prizes. They laughed when Brigham Young lost another first-round game.

They seemed to think the atmosphere perfect.

Crazy, but at no point, did anyone stand on a table and complain that the 90th team in the RPI hadn't been included in the bracket. At no point, did you see anyone wearing a T-shirt proclaiming, "Patriot League: Three berths or bust."

I love excellence. Tiger Woods (the golfing part). Roger Federer. Anything written by John Updike. Anything acted by De Niro. Java chip frappuccinos. Alyssa Milano and 45 pages of Google images.

You get the idea.

What is not excellent is the idea of the greatest four days of sport each year turning into a mountain of mediocrity. What is not excellent is the notion that most college basketball fans wouldn't think the tournament complete this season without Buffalo having the right to play for a national title.

We don't need basketball games watered down.

We have the NBA for that.

It's happening again. Greed is about to screw up a great thing.

As first reported by the blog "SportsbyBrooks," the NCAA is considering expanding the NCAA Tournament from 65 to 96 teams, because it appears a better television deal is being dangled out there.

You know, because $6 billion over 11 years just isn't cutting it in these down times.

The NCAA can opt out of its deal with CBS after the Final Four in Indianapolis, perhaps choosing to make its best cross-over dribble to the cable world of ESPN beginning next season. It would mean another week of games, which would mean potentially more missed class time for some players, which doesn't seem much of an issue when dollars are involved. It would mean more TV exposure, which would mean more money for the NCAA and its member schools.

This time, however, additional cash would also mean a poorer product.

How things would reportedly work: The National Invitation Tournament and NCAA Tournament would be combined to reach 96 teams. The top 32 would receive first-round byes, leaving 16 in each of the four regions to open play.

If the process began today, several teams with losing records in conference would make the field. La Salle, with an overall mark of 11-11 and a Rating Percentage Index of 101, would sit on the bubble. Providence, which is 4-6 in the Big East and owns an RPI of 98, would probably be in.

Why is it people involved with college athletics, from the administrative and TV sides of things, can manage to consider weakening its most successful event but can't create an eight-team playoff for Division I football?

Why do people thought so smart act so dumb?

Think about it. Why would mid-major teams that schedule tough nonleague games now to strengthen their NCAA resume be compelled to do so if a berth was all but guaranteed? Why would a mid-level team from a major conference play anyone of note before January?

There is another theory that says the NCAA will begin by expanding to 68 teams, which would mean adding three more play-in games. But unless those would include true bubble teams (say, Saint Mary's against San Diego State last year), and they wouldn't, how can anyone suggest additional games between seeds in the 15 and 16 range are good for the tournament and television?

This is not a coaches issue. They all want expansion. NCAA bids save jobs and earn raises. I can see it now: Coach Jones is in his seventh season leading the Tigers. His teams have never finished above sixth place in conference but have made the last five NCAA Tournament fields. He was rewarded with a 10-year contract extension in May.

Bottom line: North Carolina is a defending national champion that might not make the field this year. Louisville could miss out. So could UCLA and Connecticut. They haven't earned the right.

That's what the NCAA Tournament is about. That's why it's as close to perfect as anything we have in sports.

And by all reports, they are about to mess with it in a ridiculous manner. I'm not surprised. Fans who pay money to watch games don't want it. TV executives and NCAA suits do.

That hasn't been a fair fight in, well, forever.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.