NCAA Tournament Thread

[Jojogunne]

The big conferences that control the NCAA want to eliminate mid-majors from ALL tournaments.

Greed is good.

[HofstraPride1]

The big conferences that control the NCAA want to eliminate mid-majors from ALL tournaments.

Greed is good.

I don't think will get to that point. There are 68 Power 4 teams and if you count Big East is 79. Even if they went to 96 teams no chance midmajors aren't part of it and would be shocked if AQ ever goes away.

[JoeyBagODonuts1]

Could they split basketball like they did football, into I-A (BCS) and I-AA (FCS)?

[stuball888]

That's where I believe it is heading

[Wags]

If I figure it right, all teams that were 13 seeds (like Hofstra) would now be 14 seeds under the new format, playing a 3 seed instead of a 4 seed

That is correct. There will now be 4 additional 16 and 15 seeds, and you know those will all be filled by AQs and not at large teams. So have to slide all the 13s and 14s back a seed line to cover those extra 15 and 16 play-in games.

Everyone is rightly worried about all the mid-major AQs being sent to play-in games, but for the few good enough to avoid that fate it still makes it that much harder to win a game in the tourney. Fwiw Andy Katz put out a mock 76 team seed list this morning for 2027, had Charleston as the CAA rep at 60, which is a 14 seed...

https://x.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/20 ... 53642?s=20


Can't wait for in a few years from now when upsets are significantly down the discourse from the power conferences becomes the mid majors never win anyway, why keep them in at all

It could work the other way because a team that should've been a 13 seed in a 68-team format, and will now be a 14 seed in a 76-team format, makes the draw just a little big tougher for a 3 seed than it would have been before, so we could actually see more upsets. However, the talent gap for those matchups may also be greater in the NIL era than what we were used to previously, so big upsets may continue to be few, as we've seen in the past two NCAATs, due in large part, to NIL poaching.

[HofstraPride1]

That's where I believe it is heading

I do not. March Maddness is not March Madness withou the midmajors and the ones who run everything know that. Like I said before not enough teams in the power 4-5 leagues alone to compose a 76 or 96 team field so will always be midmajors in it even if means playing in play-in style games.

[Wags]

Stars aligning?

Hofstra went through the 6, 7, and 4 seeds in the 2026 CAA tournament to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 25 years.
The Knicks may go through the 6, 7, and 4 seeds in the 2026 NBA playoffs to return to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years.

[triplec2195]

Stars aligning?

Hofstra went through the 6, 7, and 4 seeds in the 2026 CAA tournament to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 25 years.
The Knicks may go through the 6, 7, and 4 seeds in the 2026 NBA playoffs to return to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years.

Lets hope so its been a longggggggg TIME!!

[Wags]

Stars aligning?

Hofstra went through the 6, 7, and 4 seeds in the 2026 CAA tournament to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 25 years.
The Knicks may go through the 6, 7, and 4 seeds in the 2026 NBA playoffs to return to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years.

Lets hope so its been a longggggggg TIME!!

Maybe not so fast on the above comparison. Knicks may have to go through the 1 seed (instead of the 4) after all. On that, related to another discussion on this board with Duke's Prime deal, it's absolutely ridiculous that the NBA has new contracts with both NBC and ESPN/ABC and has a conference semifinal Game 7 on a Sunday, streaming at 8 pm on Prime rather than on NBC or ABC at 3:30 pm. Very shortsighted money grab that in the long run will alienate fans and will hurt the league (will be the same for college sports streaming, too).

[Polito]

NCAAT expansion will not benefit mid majors one iota. Not one. It will benefit ONLY high majors / power conferences. The point is to make more money - that is it. And mids don't make the same profit for them. Bottom line. Sure it's exciting. But power fans are just as excited and even more engaged in watching their school then a random mid. That's just an extra for them.

Will mids be pushed out completely? I'm not there yet - certainly a potential in the future. I do think mids will largely be relegated to the crappy first games that aren't even 'real' tourney games. More like 'preliminary' games. There will continue to be FAR less cinderellas. Even Rothstein has gone on record with a video about how this is a straight up awful idea, completely unneeded, and a disaster for mids.

The best thing, maybe I guess who knows, might be for HU to play as big of a schedule as we can, and to build a team designed to play (and win) against power teams to give us a punchers chance. And for the schedule, we may need to get more involved in some in-season tournaments. I know there are restrictions there, but the most and best we can get may be what's needed to help us maintain SOS and opps for national level wins.

That won't help getting a bid, will still have to win the CAA which will still be a one bid league, but ideally helps prepare us for that gauntlet which is going to get longer with this expansion to make any real noise in the NCAAT than it's been whenever you actually make it.

[bean-pie]

NCAAT expansion will not benefit mid majors one iota. Not one. It will benefit ONLY high majors / power conferences. The point is to make more money - that is it. And mids don't make the same profit for them. Bottom line. Sure it's exciting. But power fans are just as excited and even more engaged in watching their school then a random mid. That's just an extra for them.

Will mids be pushed out completely? I'm not there yet - certainly a potential in the future. I do think mids will largely be relegated to the crappy first games that aren't even 'real' tourney games. More like 'preliminary' games. There will continue to be FAR less cinderellas. Even Rothstein has gone on record with a video about how this is a straight up awful idea, completely unneeded, and a disaster for mids.

The best thing, maybe I guess who knows, might be for HU to play as big of a schedule as we can, and to build a team designed to play (and win) against power teams to give us a punchers chance. And for the schedule, we may need to get more involved in some in-season tournaments. I know there are restrictions there, but the most and best we can get may be what's needed to help us maintain SOS and opps for national level wins.

That won't help getting a bid, will still have to win the CAA which will still be a one bid league, but ideally helps prepare us for that gauntlet which is going to get longer with this expansion to make any real noise in the NCAAT than it's been whenever you actually make it.

I like it. I’m of the camp right now I don’t care if we win our league - it’s all about playing high majors and winning your tournament. LFG.


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