I have no clue where this idea came from or when it started, but one day while skimming SI.com I saw a column discussing the idea. I originally thought this was the media being bored and just creating topics to write/talk about.

Then it started coming up on sports talk radio, specifically The Dan Patrick Show, which I listen to daily. Over a few weeks, Patrick had guests such as Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, and Jay Wright, all of whom thought the expansion was a good idea and that it would be put into play in a few years, if not next year.

With the tournament coming up in just a few weeks, I decided to take a look at what the 96-team tournament would be like. Just like everything in life there is a good side, a bad side and of course, an ugly side.

96-Team NCAA Tournament: The Good

More basketball!

I am not going to say no to more college basketball. I dare you to find someone who does not want to watch an extra weekend of March Madness. It is impossible. College basketball lives and dies through the tournament. More games + more airtime = more money.

Speaking of which….

More money

The talk is that the NCAA would option out of its current contract with CBS, which is worth about $1 billion, and structure a new contract with a potentially new network .

With 96 teams making the tournament, that opens the garage door to let in more mid-majors than ever before. Making the tournament would greatly improve their school’s funding and income, which could, and theoretically should, allow their athletics department to have upgraded facilities. This would then bring in a higher level of recruits, which would then make that school more competitive in athletics, making college sports more enjoyable than they already are.

Theoretically.

96 -Team NCAA Tournament: The Bad

Regular season wouldn’t matter

32 more teams being added to the tournament means that the regular season won’t matter as much as it does now or as much as it should. One of the biggest storylines to watch right now is how teams like UConn, Minnesota, Florida, and Washington will finish in their conference tournament and if they can potentially get themselves a spot in the tournament.

If there are 96 teams then we wouldn’t have to worry about those 8- or 9- loss teams. We then switch to 12- or 13- loss teams like Arkansas State, Eastern Illinois and Lafayette making the tournament, when they normally wouldn’t. Are those teams that we really need to see every year? It is the basketball version of a team going 7-6 and getting into a Bowl Game?

It shouldn’t happen.

No Gus Johnson

Scary right? Think about it. If the NCAA signs a contract for the new-look tournament with ESPN/ABC that means the end of Mr. Johnson screaming his lungs out during an inbound pass between Gonzaga-Siena in the first round. Outside of the Musburger-Knight combo, Johnson is the only announcer in college basketball who can make me watch a game that I have no interest in.

[Editor's note: I couldn't resist posting this video...]

96 -Team NCAA Tournament: The Ugly

Brackets

BY FAR the best thing about the NCAA tournament is filling out 12 brackets, 7 of which have Kansas as a winner, then spending three days figuring out which one is “official”, then filling out another 10 brackets over two more days with your “official” picks. My bracket might as well contain my heart and soul during the tournament.

Filling out a bracket brings more fans to the tournament than would pay attention without it. One year my mother had a better bracket than I did, and she would routinely ask me how a certain team did. My mom is not a basketball fan, but if you include a bracket, that will change.

With a 96-team bracket, there is no way anyone is going to have an “official” bracket even close to what actually happens. How am I supposed to pick 16 teams out of 96? I can’t even do that with 64. If I don’t have a good looking bracket and Kansas doesn’t win, the NCAA tournament is almost worthless to me.

What do you think? What are the good, bad, ugly aspects of a 96-team NCAA Tournament from your perspective?

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* – Jim Boeheim photo credit: Washington Post

This will be a fun series for me to research and write, however, because I can relive the glory days of Indiana basketball — that wonderful time when a 1-17 conference record would have been deemed a complete impossibility. As this year proved, however, even the most incomprehensible collapse of a once proud program is possible with the perfect storm of catastrophic player departures and recruiting scandals. All of us IU fans are clinging to the optimism that it was just a one year blip and that Tom Crean will have us back competitive again next year.

Because, you see, while the IU program took a big hit this season, the IU tradition is still alive and strong; and the reason for that is IU’s splendid history of NCAA Tournament excellence. No, Indiana has not been a great tournament team over the past 15 years (except for that awesome 2002 run), but between 1973 and 1993 there were few teams who could match IU in postseason success. The table below, which lists the schools with the most NCAA Mens Basketball Championships, is proof positive of this.

Let’s get to the table and then analyze a bit. First, a few relevant NCAA Tournament links (some of which have not been posted yet, but will be), especially if you are planning on attending any of the tournament games this year:

• 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament History: Past Champions, Final Four participants, Final Four locations by year, and interesting tournament tidbits
• NCAA Tournament All-Time MOPs: Mens and Womens Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player Winners
• NCAA Womens Basketball Tournament Champions
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Tickets
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Tickets

The following table provides an ordered list of NCAA Champions in mens college basketball from most to least. It includes the number of titles for each school that has won at least one, and the years in which those titles were captured. I actually included this table at the bottom of a previous post, but figured it deserved its own. Here you go:

Obviously, for me, the best part about this NCAA Champions table is the school in third place: Indiana. The Hoosiers have won as many titles as the rest of the Big 10 combined. The Big 10 needs to get a move on or it could get shut out this decade. Michigan State closed the 90s by winning the 1999-2000 championship, but it has been bupkus ever since for the conference.

North Carolina actually has a pretty good shot to tie the Hoosiers with their fifth championship if the Tar Heels can D up in the tournament. They certainly have the talent to win it all and will likely enter the 2009 NCAA Tournament as the #1 overall seed.

We know one thing: Kentucky won’t be adding to their total any time soon.

UCLA obviously has the most impressive historical resume of any school in the country — by a long shot. And the Bruins have reached three straight Final Fours, but have been unable to close the deal. It appears that UCLA is not good enough to make the Final Four this year, but stranger things have certainly happened. It still boggles my mind to look at their dominance in the 60s and early 70s. Just an amazing run, led by native Hoosier (but collegiate Boilermaker) John Wooden.

Kansas joined the rarified air of 3-time NCAA Champions with their title last year. UConn, Louisville, and Michigan State all have two, but could stretch that number to three in this year’s tournament. I think there is a good chance that San Francisco will be sitting on their two titles for a long, long time in the future…

Out of the NCAA Champions in the Top 6, Indiana is obviously the furthest away from claiming another title based on our performance this season. However, Hoosier fans can take solace in that fact that each of the five other schools has dealt with periods of turmoil and struggle to rebound and become national powers once again. If Indiana is to hang a sixth banner in Assembly Hall, it will have to follow a similar path.

Hopefully Tom Crean is leading us on a path to do just that.

Update: Get ready for this year’s NCAA Tournament with our March Madness 2010 preview post.