NCAA Selection Committee Changes

S

SnapBack

Well-Known Member
Not necessarily new news but ESPN had a good article on the changes the committee is doing this year in order to prevent teams from being bumped seeds because of match-ups.

From the article... and keep in mind "3rd round" really means 2nd round.

"Under the new policy, teams that have played once could meet in the third round of the NCAA tournament, and teams that have played twice could meet in the Sweet 16. The committee will still try to avoid teams that have met three times from playing before the regional finals."

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...airman-ron-wellman-believes-tournament-fairer
 
I thin they should just seed 1 through 68 and if there are rematches in the first round even then so be it.
 
SnapBack said:
Not necessarily new news but ESPN had a good article on the changes the committee is doing this year in order to prevent teams from being bumped seeds because of match-ups.

From the article... and keep in mind "3rd round" really means 2nd round.

"Under the new policy, teams that have played once could meet in the third round of the NCAA tournament, and teams that have played twice could meet in the Sweet 16. The committee will still try to avoid teams that have met three times from playing before the regional finals."

NCAA selection committee chairman Ron Wellman believes tournament will be fairer - ESPN
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Thanks for the link. But the 3rd round is actually the field of 32, the 2nd round is technically the field of 64, and the first round are the 4 games played on the first day (field of 68).

bcl20 said:
I thin they should just seed 1 through 68 and if there are rematches in the first round even then so be it.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more, I say try to avoid 1st or 2nd round rematches (in a field of 64/68 that is not hard) but after that I really don't care.
 
Kelley - that's what I was saying. The "3rd round" they speak of is really the "2nd round". We're on the same page. Call me old school but I won't call the round of 64 the "2nd round".

I may have not explained it well though.
 
SnapBack said:
Kelley - that's what I was saying. The "3rd round" they speak of is really the "2nd round". We're on the same page. Call me old school but I won't call the round of 64 the "2nd round".

I may have not explained it well though.
Click to expand...

I understand where you are coming from, it seems weird to me as well. But get used to it because the first round will get expanded eventually. They might not be talking about it now (per the article) but they will eventually as the NCAA is all about money and getting more of those bubble teams into the tournament, playing in the first round, makes them money.
 
I remember rumors a few years ago about them expanding to 128 teams. I'm not convinced that we're not working towards this still.
 
bcl20 said:
I remember rumors a few years ago about them expanding to 128 teams. I'm not convinced that we're not working towards this still.
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Expanding the tournament to 128 teams would hurt the game IMO. It would reduce the value of the regular season down to the point where not many would care. The bubble talk and all the bracketologist would disappear.

If they did expand the tournament anymore I would like to see all the 16 seeds playing in the first round. That would eliminate those low majors that have no business being in the tournament in the first place and make the entire field of 64 more competitive. I can also see all the 12 or 13 seeds playing in the first round to get a few more bubble teams into the tournament for a field of 72. So basically each region would have 2 first round games for a total of 8.
 
ssckelley said:
Expanding the tournament to 128 teams would hurt the game IMO. It would reduce the value of the regular season down to the point where not many would care. The bubble talk and all the bracketologist would disappear.

If they did expand the tournament anymore I would like to see all the 16 seeds playing in the first round. That would eliminate those low majors that have no business being in the tournament in the first place and make the entire field of 64 more competitive. I can also see all the 12 or 13 seeds playing in the first round to get a few more bubble teams into the tournament for a field of 72. So basically each region would have 2 first round games for a total of 8.
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It would, unless you really, really value the regular season title. I think it's inevitable just like the college football playoff will eventually be expanded. It being at 68 teams already annoys me.
 
SnapBack said:
Calling it the round of 64, round of 32 makes it much easier. I should have done that.
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What would make it easier is going to back just calling the round of 64/32 the first and second rounds like it always was, and name that newfangled "first round" for what it is: A set of play-in games to see who gets to participate in the REAL first round. :p

I agree with others that with this many teams, it should not be hard to avoid rematches in the 64/32 rounds. If there really is no way around a rematch, then so be it. Sure, I'd prefer to see match ups we haven't seen yet, but I also prefer to see teams get the seed they deserve.
 
ssckelley said:
I understand where you are coming from, it seems weird to me as well. But get used to it because the first round will get expanded eventually. They might not be talking about it now (per the article) but they will eventually as the NCAA is all about money and getting more of those bubble teams into the tournament, playing in the first round, makes them money.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter how many they expand the tournament to....there will always be bubble teams. Unless they just have everyone in, of course.
 
bcl20 said:
It would, unless you really, really value the regular season title. I think it's inevitable just like the college football playoff will eventually be expanded. It being at 68 teams already annoys me.
Click to expand...

I agree, they will expand it as long as they can keep selling the games. But I cannot ever see it being expanded to 128, that is 64 first round games which, IMO, would over saturate the market.

83Hawk said:
It doesn't matter how many they expand the tournament to....there will always be bubble teams. Unless they just have everyone in, of course.
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You are right, there would always be a bubble but at what point would anybody care? If it was a 128 team tournament the bubble would consist of a bunch of crappy teams from mid to low major conferences and the basement dwellers of the power conferences.

At 128 teams this would be the bubble:

Texas Tech (13-11)
Quinnipiac (16-8)
UTEP (16-7)
Miami (12-12)
Penn State (13-12)
Canisius (16-8)
Boston U (18-8)
Utah State (14-9)
UNLV (16-8)
Alabama (9-14)

ESPN RPI ranks 101 to 110.
 
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