What to know about the current men’s NCAA competition expansion

Jeff Borzello, ESPN Personnel WriterJul 14, 2023, 07:45 AM ET

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• Basketball recruiting insider.
• Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.While conference growth

has actually been the subject du jour in college sports all offseason, the NCAA announced Thursday it had talked about a different kind of expansion this week.The NCAA Division I Guys’s Basketball Committee acknowledged its members spoke about broadening the NCAA tournament in its three-day conference this week, but the organization likewise stated broadening the field is “not imminent. “”The committee needs to be great stewards for the Division I Guys’s Basketball Champion,”stated Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball. “They are devoted to doing their due diligence taking a look at a couple of various designs to make an informed decision that’s in the very best interests of the championship, which might extremely well consist of choosing against expansion.””The committee and personnel will continue studying alternatives and gathering feedback from various constituents,”

Gavitt added.”Whether the competition expands or not remains to be seen.”Here’s what to learn about where everyone bases on broadening the field.How did we get here?Editor’s Picks 2 Associated While broadening the NCAA competition has been a subject of discussion in college sports for some time, it ended up being an official

conversation point in January

, when the NCAA Department I change committee released a 22-page report with a range of suggestions to college sports. Amongst those recommendations was one permitting 25%of groups in sports with at least 200 schools to compete in champion events. In males’s college basketball, which had 363 schools last season, that would imply as much as 90 teams might participate in the NCAA tournament.The Department I board of directors approved that suggestion(and others)later that month.The guys’s NCAA competition expanded to 64 teams in 1985, later on going to 65 groups in 2001 and 68 in 2011.

The NCAA hasn’t specified if there is a particular model or number of groups it is considering in these expansion discussions.When may the committee discuss this topic again?The next in-person meeting for the committee will remain in late October in Phoenix, although it’s most likely a virtual meeting or two will be scheduled before the committee meets in the fall.How do college sports’power brokers

view competition expansion?While private conference expansion has actually been at the forefront of a lot of discussions between conference commissioners, a number of league leaders have already explained their positions on competition expansion.SEC commissioner Greg Sankey got the ball rolling last summertime, when

he informed Sports Illustrated he was willing to take a”fresh

appearance” at the competition.”If the last group in can win the championship game, and they’re in the 30s or 40s from an RPI or [NCAA] Internet standpoint, is our present technique supporting national championship competition?”Sankey stated at the time.” I believe there’s health because conversation. That doesn’t omit individuals. It goes to: How do we include people in these annual nationwide events that cause a nationwide champ?”ACC commissioner Jim Phillips told ESPN at ACC media day last fall he believed tournament growth was worth checking out.”It’s the crown gem of all of our championships,” Phillips stated. “There’s nothing that really duplicates it, on both sides, on the guys’s side and the females’s side. So you need to be considerate of not messing it up either, and comprehend it’s in a really good, healthy place. But you likewise have to continue to be progressive, and I try to think about those things in that method.””More gain access to, more opportunity for more boys and women, “he added.”There’s a great deal of positives to that.”Big East commissioner Val Ackerman has revealed issue about television contracts and the logistical and scheduling intricacies of a broadened tournament.CBS and Turner Sports are contracted to televise the NCAA competition through 2032. What do college basketball coaches think about expansion?Coaches are fairly split on whether

to expand the tournament from 68 teams.Late last month, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo informed ESPN’s Myron Medcalf that expansion could decrease the item.” I just believe it’s going to get thinned down,”Izzo stated.”I fret about that a bit. It would not trouble me if they did that, however I do worry that if it gets thinned down, it’s bad. … I think 68 has been a pretty good number. I think you get enough good first-round games. That’s me.” At ACC media day last fall, Miami coach Jim Larrañaga described why he’s in favor.”I have actually been a proponent of broadening the NCAA competition for a long period of time, “Larrañaga said.”If you look at the objective of college basketball, the NCAA

competition is the conclusion of every player’s dream. However if you look at the history, it’s constantly the very same teams with a few exceptions. So expanding the tournament to 96, it actually must have gone from 64 to 96.”Virginia’s Tony Bennett said at the time he didn’t wish to overhaul the bracket, however wasn’t opposed to small expansion.”I believe the NCAA competition is perhaps the very best, from start to end up, the very best sporting event going,”Bennett said.”I do not want to lose what we have. If we have a little bit of expansion and it does not remove and it’s not a major shift, I ‘d be for that. I would protect what we have, and if there’s little changes, a couple of more here and there, I ‘d be for that, however not a major overhaul. “Auburn’s Bruce Pearl expressed comparable ideas to Medcalf last month.”

I think when we went from 64 to 68 [teams], it didn’t injure anything,”Pearl said.”I would be [

in favor of] adding a handful of groups. You can say, ‘Well, every year, there are going to be 4 or five teams that are neglected of the tournament.’OK? So let’s add four. I’m not for blowing it up. I’m not for 96.”On The Other Hand, Virginia Tech’s Mike Young echoed most of college basketball fans on social media when he said at last fall’s ACC media day he would go with the status quo.”

I’m a purist,”Young said.”I don’t like it. … Why would we dabble with something that’s been so effective, that’s been so unique to the world of athletics, that is taking pleasure in huge appeal and has permanently and ever?”