NCAA tournament expansion has flaws

Recently, the National Association of Basketball Coaches met in Orlando, Fla. to discuss the idea of increasing the NCAA men's basketball tournament from a field of 65 to a field of 128.

The idea came as college coaches across the country are feeling greater pressure to win at all costs. This argument does bring up an interesting idea and question throughout the realm of college basketball.

The NCAA has not adjusted the tournament field, more than adding on a meaningless play-in game in 2001, since 1985.

That was the year that the tournament field went from 48 to 64 teams.

This proposal comes on the heels of a NCAA tournament that featured a George Mason team going through several major powerhouse teams on their way to a Final Four appearance.

Many coaches believe that this should open the door to other programs in George Mason's situation.

Adding more teams would allow more bubble teams to have a chance at slipping into the Cinderella role.

"They'd love to see the tournament double to 128," said Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

"It's based on several things. First, there are a lot of good teams worthy of making the NCAA field, and second, the size of 64 or 65 has been in place for a number of years," as reported by ESPN.com.

While all of these things would help the NCAA create more revenue for the smaller teams in the Division I-A, but expanding and extending the tournament any longer is unnecessary.

The tournament in its current configuration already stretches across an entire month. This year's tournament went from March 15 and concluded on April 3.

The tournament in a 128-team format would stretch into late April to finish the tournament.

Another argument brought forth was that the tournament is taxing enough on its own for players and coaches alike.

It would require them to take extra time for travel for the tournament, which would keep these student-athletes from attending classes.

An expanded tournament format would make the regular season even less important than it already is.

The conference tournaments might not be held in as high regard. The conference champions of the past would no longer gain any extra benefit from winning their conference championships due to the fact that every conference would most likely pick up a minimum of two bids under this format.

On another note, having a 128 team field would mean more danger for those teams that played exceptionally well during the season.

The tournament in its current format already creates situations where teams with great seasons pay the price for having one bad game during the tournament.

If you add more teams into the mix, then it would create a situation where the tournament would become a random test of luck versus being a test of how good a team actually is.

While adding more teams to the field would create less controversy on who gets a fair shake in getting into the tournament, it would create a situation where there is less chance of getting a clear winner out of the field.

This would in turn create even more chaos than the current system already has in it.

One possible compromise would be to allow for more play-in games. While the teams that play in these contests are playing in meaningless match ups, the teams that are allowed entry into the field are more capable teams which could create even more interesting first round match-ups as well as curtail some of the problems with picking bubble teams in the future.

The matter of expanding the tournament has been resolved for now. Offcials have decided to stay with the original 64-team format for the upcoming seasons of college basketball.