Contact Us | Site Map | Archives | Subscribe to the paper

Home › Webified › › Blogs Iliana Limón's Wolf Tracks

Expanded NCAA tourney field?

June 27, 2006

The National Association of Basketball Coaches is proposing expansion of the men's NCAA Tournament field from 65 teams to 128. The association's argument got traction from George Mason's run to the Final Four last season when the team wasn't even expected to make the tournament field.
Although the NCAA isn't expected to approve expansion this week during meetings in Orlando, expansion is likely in the future.
The women's tournament has modeled itself after the men and tries to capture the same magic that has made the men's NCAA Tournament such a big hit.
So is this an area where women's basketball should follow suit and pursue expansion of the women's NCAA Tournament field?
It would probably mean more Mountain West teams get into the tournament and would take pressure off the conference tournament. It also probably would kill the WNIT. Is that good or bad?

Posted by ilimon at 10:39 AM |

Comments

This site does not necessarily agree with comments posted below -- responsibility lies with the relevant reader alone. Read our privacy agreement.

Posted by: Andrew Leo Lopez | June 27, 2006 11:58 AM

If the field to the NCAA tournament were doubled, the acheivement for teams and coaches would be reduced by a factor of four. In other words diluting the effort required to reach a goal cheapens the result.
Besides, there exists a reasonable facsimile that includes nearly all D-1 teams in the form of the conference tournaments.
Therefore, doubling the number of teams in the Big Dance is a very bad idea.
Naturally, some wag will be provincial and jump for joy over the possibility that Phlanagan will then do better than one and out.
My answer is that the Lobo Women's team is forever while Phlanagan is not.
Therefore policy should be made for the long term and not for the needs of individuals who one day sooner or later must depart.

Post a comment