Running 2023-24 NCAA Basketball Thread

Here's a voice I respect with an idea that seems reasonable but would not be popular with TV or the viewing public.
https://x.com/PaulBiancardi/status/1771548681247797685?s=20
Under this system, there would have been 17 at-large entrants rather than 36.
We would have gotten Indiana State and Drake. We would have also gotten:
Sam Houston State and Western Kentucky
High Point and Longwood
Quinnipiac and St. Peter's
Central Connecticut State and Wagner
And so forth.

 

If they expand the field to 96 or 128, I’m all for this.

 

Nessler the happiest guy in America that he’s got the first two games…..will be on a plane back to Atlanta with a scotch in his hand by 8 est.

 

Caitlin Clark against an opponent against whom she can score at will?

Yes, please. Coming at 3.

 

I've made this same argument in the past. Get rid of the NIT. No one cares. Fold those 32 bids into a 96-team NCAA tournament that features automatic bids for OUTRIGHT conference champions and tournament champions. That would have added: Eastern Kentucky, South Florida, Eastern Washington, High Point, UC Irvine, Sam Houston, Princeton, Quinnipiac, Toledo, Norfolk State, Indiana State, and Appalachian State to the field. That opens up another 16 at-large bids for the power conference stragglers and allows for 26 percent of Division I to qualify for its championship, which is not a huge number considering nearly half the teams in most pro leagues make the postseason. Most of all, it adds just one round to the competition. You can go Tuesday-Sunday on the first weekend and revert to normal for the Sweet 16 and Final Four weekends. You may argue that Ole Miss and Utah and schools of that nature don't belong, but I'll argue that the NIT has far outlived its usefulness. Have you seen some of the crowds this week? Scrap it.

 

I want to agree with this. But then we'd have to trust the committee.

And we've seen throughout the years that the committee cannot be trusted to be consistent. One year, it's win more games. The next year, it's schedule more difficult. The next, it's metric A. Then metric C. Then metric Q.

If we could trust that the committee could blend the mid-majors and the power conference schools who had decent seasons in good leagues, I could see it. But ... I don't trust them. I hope something makes sense to some of you in here ...

 

Or we could leave something great intact.

 

EDT

 

I must not have seen Nessler for a while. Man, he's aged.

 

Happens to all of us.

 

He’s getting out at the right time. He’s lost about four mph off his fastball.

 

I’m going to have this Ludacris song in my head for a month.