Tourney talk

Should the NCAA Tournament expand in order to preserve its current state? And what would a new postseason tourney mean for college hoops? Plus, it was a busy recruiting Monday.

Author

Mike Miller
September 12, 2023

The days of “secret scrimmages” are quickly turning into exhibition fundraisers. And I am here for it. The latest is St. John’s and Rutgers, which will play an Oct. 21 game that’ll raise money for the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund.

The next step? Just make all these games season openers.

Let's get to Monday’s news.

1. NCAA Tournament expansion may be inevitable

Much of college hoops X/Twitter spent Monday discussing the ramifications of a new postseason tournament (more on that in a bit), but that was the wrong tourney to discuss.

Because this article from The Athletic’s Dana O’Neil details why NCAA Tournament expansion might not be a fanciful talking point among certain leaders, but a necessity.

… Now, with conferences ballooning memberships and cannibalizing the century-old Pac-12 in the process, even hoops folks are grudgingly coming to recognize that a bigger bracket might be the best way to ensure the NCAA Tournament’s future. A future that, by the way, is not exactly off in the distance. Multiple sources told The Athletic that a stretched bracket likely needs to be in place in time for the 2025 tournament, after the reorgs in the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and ACC take over.

The reason? Simple preservation.

Multiple sources who have worked with or served on the NCAA Tournament selection committee agree that a small compromise in expanding the field — somewhere north of the current 68, but ideally less than 96 teams — could serve as the ideal best olive branch to prevent the real threat to the whole operation: namely that the football-playing schools opt out of the tourney altogether, and form their own.

When power conference schools hold the power (influence and TV contracts) to alter the college sports landscape, nothing is untouchable. Not longstanding conference affiliations, rivalries — or even the greatest postseason tournament in all of sports (sorry World Cup).

And what O’Neil writes isn’t that everyone is on board with this idea, but that if you want the current version of the tournament to survive — where mid-majors and small schools keep getting invites — well, you might have to expand.

Power conference teams already dominate the at-large bids to the Big Dance. All but four of 36 at-large invites last season went to Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, SEC or Big East schools. If you’re a fan of watching the likes of Fairleigh Dickinson pull off remarkable upsets, or seeing schools like FAU reach the Final Four, expansion is the best route as it’ll offer more opportunities for all schools.

And when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, an expansion in order to preserve the tournament is certainly a concession most would make in favor of the greater good.

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2. What a new postseason tourney might mean for college hoops

OK, so the concern about the NCAA Tournament might seem a bit overblown until you consider the other tourney news from Monday: Fox Sports is trying to launch a new postseason basketball tournament.

Per Seth Davis at The Messenger, this would include the top 16 teams from the Big 12, Big East and Big Ten that did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. (It also could include the Pac-12, but that’ll depend on if the league will even be around.)

It would compete directly with the other existing postseason tournaments, and be held during the last week of March. That’s a direct shot at the NIT. And if that wasn’t enough, those conference schools would be required to play in the event — even if they were invited to the NIT.

This idea was first floated in early 2022, but has been revisited in the last few weeks. One league source told Davis the idea was promising, and “would also open up more spots for mid-major schools to play in the NIT.”

The NIT is run by the NCAA, and would be a direct competitor to this event, as it’s aired by ESPN. Whether it remains a TV draw without schools from those conferences is another story. The NIT would still feature ACC and SEC schools (they have partnerships with ESPN), but the idea of multiple postseason events that aren’t even the main college hoops draw in March makes me wonder about the viability of both events.

There would be other concerns raised by a competing event (Matt Norlander breaks down most of them here), including the timing. Teams would be off for two weeks after their conference tournaments before playing again.

But the biggest concern is the big picture, i.e., the NCAA Tournament.

That’s not a doomsday scenario, either. It’s exactly what Dana O’Neil’s article was about. When media companies can dictate events, and power conferences hold the most of the bargaining chips, can we really assume that they’ll simply keep letting the NCAA run the largest and best postseason tournament in sports?

Or do schools eventually spin off something without the NCAA?

3. A busy recruiting day

How about we switch to some of the usual college hoops content, such as recruiting? Because we had three notable players make decisions on Monday, starting with the latest addition to Arkansas.

Shelley’s a 4-star prospect out of Frisco, Texas, who chose the Hogs over Colorado, Houston, Louisville, LSU, Marquette, Ohio State, and Texas A&M, among others. The 6-8 wing from the class of 2024 is exactly what you’d expect with an Eric Musselman player: Long, athletic, and able to thrive in transition and slashing to the basket. (His shot needs a little work.)

Meanwhile, 4-star center and 2024 prospect Doryan Onwuchekwa told Joe Tipton that he’s headed to Colorado.

The 6-10, 235-pound prospect out of Dallas went with the Buffs over Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, TCU, and Xavier. He’s a sturdy, old-school post player. Not a rim runner, but a guy who’ll get the ball on the block and hit a short jumper when needed.

And how about one more 2024 prospect from Texas? Jared Harris, a 4-star guard from Silsbee, Texas, is off to Memphis.

The 6-3 recruit chose the Tigers over Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, LSU, Illinois and Mississippi State. He says he plays a lot like Memphis coach Penny Hardaway, so perhaps the decision shouldn’t be a huge surprise.

Cool customer

There’s quite a bit of work to do at Georgetown. Probably enough that new coach Ed Cooley can’t fix everything in just one offseason. But Rob Dauster and Greg Waddell think he’s off to a pretty good start.

Links as you try to decide which NY football team had a worse Week 1.

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