The lines have been drawn for possible NCAA Tournament expansion to 96 teams: Former players and fans on one side, and the NCAA and coaches on the other – with current players stuck in the middle. As a site dedicated to former athletes, it’s our pleasure – nay, our duty – to list 96 reasons the Big Dance should stay as-is. Sorry Jim Boeheim.
Editor’s Note: You’ll notice many of the reasons listed are Cinderella moments of yesteryear. The reason? The new format would end up pitting Mid-Major teams against average BCS schools in the first round and give Goliaths the advantage of byes in the tournament. This would seriously jeopardize the upsets we highlight below that make the tournament so special.
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96. College sports fans can only handle complaining about one postseason at a time.
95. It’s un-American. Imagine the economy with two more days of people blowing off work.
94. We can’t handle another weekend of Jim Nantz’s, “Hello friends!”
93. If this were already in place, North Carolina would probably make the tournament this year. Marinate on that for a second….
92. Indiana State’s Kelyn Block losing three teeth – then coming back to play in OT and stun Oklahoma.
91. We’d lose the play-in game (Bwahahaha, that was just to throw you off. Why is there a play in game again?).
90. President Obama would have to figure out something nice to say about 31 more schools. Gag.
89. Bryce Drew – for the win!
88. Doesn’t the Big East already have a 96-team tournament?
87. Watching Stony Brook receiving a No. 21 seed just doesn’t sound exciting.
86. Gabe Lewullis’ back door cut.
85. “Selection Sunday” turning into “Selection Saturday, Sunday and Parts of Monday.”
84. Seriously, is the NCAA just trying to kill Gus Johnson?
83. “We’re bringing you first-round action live from Laramie, Wyoming!”
82. It’ll be that much more complicated to vacate John Calipari’s tournament appearances years later.
81. An extra weekend of lame movie tie-in promotion.
80. Harold “The Show” Arceneaux.
79. See #93.
78. Home sites are for the NIT.
77. As the Washington Post’s Tracee Hamilton put it, “It’s the worst idea in the history of ideas.”
76. Because #76 is all you should need.
75. 5-foot-5 Earl “The Squirrel” Boykins single-handedly taking down Duke.
74. Northwestern needs to earn its first trip to the dance.
73. We’d be more excited about the PapaJohns.com Bowl than some of the first round games.
72. 80% of people polled by USA Today are against it. We don’t know who the other 20% are, but keep in mind 11% of people still think Elvis is alive.
71. Joe Lunardi’s head would explode.
70. We’d miss Jim Boeheim’s first-round exits too much.
69. The sentence, “How can you leave out Arkansas State?!” being argued on Selection Sunday.
68. The possibility of 2 teams from the SWAC getting in. We just went cross-eyed.
67. “Ladies and gentlemen, coming out of retirement to help us broadcast this year’s first round games: Billy Packer!”
66. Eric Maynor’s dagger.
65. Hampton coach Steve Merfeld losing his mind.
64. “Stay tuned for the first One Shining Moment hour-long special, featuring the glowing ball!”
63. Dickie V standing on his head after Austin Peay shocked Illinois in 1987.
62. Steve Nash’s intro to the big time.
61. Athletes will be away from school too long (stifled laughter).
60. The small-school jersey pop.
59. Darnell Archey’s eight 3-pointers.
58. Expanding the NCAAs? Millions of more dollars. Watching Pepperdine crush Bob Knight in his last game as IU coach? Priceless.
57. The best moment of De’Jon Jackson’s life.
56. TJ Sorrentine – from waaaay downtown.
55. Isn’t the CBI sad enough as-is?
54. Creighton’s Terrell Taylor flying high.
53. Bobby Gonzalez’s Manhattan teams.
52. Northwestern State coming back from 17 down.
51. Because we still believe a #16 seed will one day knock off a #1 seed.
50. The 12-5 match-up.
49. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome lawsuits from filling out brackets..
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2 Comments
yes…this makes me so angry. The NCAA is so greedy…don’t ruin the best postseason of ANY sport
The only thing the proposed expansion does is let teams who don’t deserve it get in. My example is Illinois – they don’t deserve to get in the dance the way they’ve played and all the expansion would do is allow them in and justify Weber’s job. That’s a crime in itself.
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