Doug Elgin – Time to Expand the Tournament

MVC Commissioner Advocates an 80 Tournament

(St. Louis, MO) – March Madness has been spectacular so far. There have been just enough ‘Davids’ beating ‘Goliaths’ to make it fun and interesting. There have been plenty of ‘Blue-Bloods’ performing at high levels to satisfy the networks. Stars like Ja Morant and Fletcher Magee are stunning the nation.

But is it time to expand the tournament?

Missouri Valley Conference Commissioner Doug Elgin thinks so. There have been recent discussions about the need to expand a tournament that allows 14 percent of its constituents to participate.

March Madness hasn’t grown appreciably since 1985. The first season where our commonly recognized 64-team bracket was used led to the eighth seeded Villanova Wildcats winning the national championship. Villanova was one of 282 Division 1 programs.

Today college basketball’s top division contains 353 teams and the tournament has expanded by four teams. If we used the same percentage of teams (.226) in the tournament as there were in 1985, there would be 80 teams included.

Ironically, Commissioner Elgin says it is time to expand the tournament to 80 teams. The addition of 12 teams would create more space for more mid-major programs and an additional round of action for fans.

Elgin admits the existing selection committee members have a difficult job.

 

 

Expand the Tournament to 80 Teams

Eighty teams is the number Commissioner Elgin thinks would work. That’s 12 more than the current 68. Instead of the current ‘First Four’ round that eliminates four teams to arrive at the beloved 64 team bracket, there would be 16 games to eliminate 16 teams. Perhaps those double headers could be played at each of the eight sub-regional sites.

Thirty-two teams would participate in ‘play-in’ or first round games in order to qualify for the field of 64.

 

 

Has the N.E.T. Worked?

This year’s change in evaluation tools, the NCAA Evaluation Tool (N.E.T.) has left some scratching their head, and wondering if the process took a step backward. Elgin says the process wasn’t fully tested, but still believes in the use of metrics but also of a human panel to sort the data.

 

 

What Was The ‘Loyola Effect’ on The Valley?

Loyola’s magical ride during the 2018 NCAA Tournament has sparked new optimism in the Valley and for all mid major programs. The MVC Commissioner says Loyola’s deep run reminds programs with limited resources, that they can have postseason success.

 

 

Many are saying it is time to expand the tournament. Elgin says NCAA leaders are always looking for ways to improve on the best postseason tournament in sports. Hope remains for a larger and more representative field.

Do Good

Editor: We recorded this interview during Arch Madness.