Butler is in!!! 68 team bracketology (merged thread)

[LoboDays]

NCAA expands women's tourney to 68 teams

The NCAA announced Wednesday that the women's basketball tournament will move to a 68-team field, up from 64, starting this season.

www.espn.com

 

[JordyG]

Sure the talent pool in WCBB barely warrants 32 teams. But heck, this will be the first and only opportunity for some of these young women to look back and say "Yeah, we played (UConn, SCar, Stanford etc) in the big tourney, and I scored 10 points". Or even, "Yeah I played in the tourney". Isn't that worth it?

 

[hoopsfan22]

Why not add two more rounds and you'll be able to let every D-I team into the tournament? Participation trophies for everyone!

 

[JordyG]

Why not add two more rounds and you'll be able to let every D-I team into the tournament? Participation trophies for everyone!

The men accept 68 teams. . They started inviting 64 teams in 1985. That's darn near 40 years. Let's go over to their side and give the participation trophy argument to them as well.

 

[Bayareahusky]

the bar is low..... and for the women.... because of the lack of decent teams..... i expect to see embarrassing invites to tourney

 

[UConn82]

I wrote a paper in 5th grade on the 1965 Men's NCAA basketball tournament. I rooted for Princeton, because my hero--at that time--was Bill Bradley. I wrote to him, and he sent me an autographed picture.

I just looked it up. There were 23 team. Yes, 23, which reduced to 16 after the first round.

You can look it up, as they say.

 

[Vowelguy]

Terrible idea.

 

[cohenzone]

I wrote a paper in 5th grade on the 1965 Men's NCAA basketball tournament. I rooted for Princeton, because my hero--at that time--was Bill Bradley. I wrote to him, and he sent me an autographed picture.

I just looked it up. There were 23 team. Yes, 23, which reduced to 16 after the first round.

You can look it up, as they say.

Only one team per conference the conference champ. The ACC was the only conference to have a post season tournament and their tournament champ got in, so if the season champ didn’t win their tourney, they were out of luck. It’s why the NIT was prestigious. Really good teams got in and once in a while a team preferred to play in the NIT in MSG. UConn got in my first two years and then the NCAA dropped the Yancon automatic bididv, which was an insult because UConn had played well those two years including beating your heavily favored Bill Bradley team my freshman year when Dom Perno sealed the win by stealing the ball from Bradley. In fact they used to play a consolation game in the Final Four and I’m pretty sure Bradley set the tournament one game scoring record one of his years in the consolation game. He was a great college player.

There was a near riot in Storrs my junior year when UConn won the Yancon, was snubbed by the NCAA for one of the few at large bids after two years of solid play in the tournament and an invitation to the NIT was rejected by Athletic Director J.O. Christian because he felt UConn owed allegiance to the NCAA which had screwed the Yancon. He was hanged in effigy at a rally outside the Fieldhouse.

 

[Kaizen]

the bar is low..... and for the women.... because of the lack of decent teams..... i expect to see embarrassing invites to tourney

I thought NCAAW has been improved for the last 10 years. Where do you have the idea of "lack of decent teams"? Are UConn, Stamford, South Carolina, Maryland, Louisville and Baylor decent teams?

 

[Plebe]

I understand why many don't like the idea, but it's simply a question of equity. If 68 men's teams get in, there have to be 68 women's teams. That simple.

 

[LoboDays]

The mens game has reached a level where we see high seeds being knocked off in the first round by the low seeds. When the women’s game gets there, expansion would be worth a look. Doing it now, is an exercise in copying the men for copying sake. It’s not based on merit.

 

[Dokey]

Hey, we like women’s basketball. Why would I mind a few extra teams and games?

 

[Vowelguy]

I understand why many don't like the idea, but it's simply a question of equity. If 68 men's teams get in, there have to be 68 women's teams. That simple.

Nah. There are better ways to achieve equity, and improve the tournament, than inviting 4 more very marginal teams.

 

[Hayven]

Yikes, tough crowd on this board. I for one, don’t mind the change. It’s nice give teams like ND and Tennessee a fighting chance to get into the tournament

 

[MSGRET]

I wrote a paper in 5th grade on the 1965 Men's NCAA basketball tournament. I rooted for Princeton, because my hero--at that time--was Bill Bradley. I wrote to him, and he sent me an autographed picture.

I just looked it up. There were 23 team. Yes, 23, which reduced to 16 after the first round.

You can look it up, as they say.

When John Wooden won his 10 National Championships the first nine championships(64, 65, 67, 69, 69, 70, 71, 72, & 73) UCLA only had to play 4 games to win it all. In the 75 championship they had to play 5 to win it all. Also in all of those NC they were always in the West for at least two games, and up to all 4 depending on where the NCAA Finals were held. The Men's tournament didn't go to 64 teams until 1985.

 

[Twolf]

The men accept 68 teams. . They started inviting 64 teams in 1985. That's darn near 40 years. Let's go over to their side and give the participation trophy argument to them as well.

The men expanded to 68 teams in 2011 I believe, and the cynic in me sees this as having very little to do with more quality women’s teams being left out of the big dance, but strictly as a CYA move by the NCAA after the embarrassment of the disparity of weight rooms and other facilities between the mens and women’s tournament. This would have been seen as a positive move towards gender equality if the NCAA had done it before they had egg on their face after the debacle they created last year. A bigger question might be whether they will still be around in ten years after the reversals they’ve suffered in the legal system, with NIL laws being the best example.

JMO

 

[Monte]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[hoopsfan22]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

What $? Doesn't women's basketball lose money?

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

What $? Doesn't women's basketball lose money?

Yeah, I'm not sure that the money explanation holds.

 

[JordyG]

A bigger question might be whether they will still be around in ten years after the reversals they’ve suffered in the legal system, with NIL laws being the best example.

Needs to be said louder and perhaps more often.

 

[Monte]

What $? Doesn't women's basketball lose money?

Maybe they will lose less.

 

[uconnfan68]

the bar is low..... and for the women.... because of the lack of decent teams..... i expect to see embarrassing invites to tourney

And yet a #16 beat a #1 on the women’s side. Never happened for the guys.

 

[D J B]

Nah. There are better ways to achieve equity, and improve the tournament, than inviting 4 more very marginal teams.

Well, there are plenty of us here who are interested in this topic, and would love to know what you think those better ways are to achieve equity. If you know, please take the time share them with your fellow BYders.

 

[Cuango]

The men accept 68 teams. . They started inviting 64 teams in 1985. That's darn near 40 years. Let's go over to their side and give the participation trophy argument to them as

I thought NCAAW has been improved for the last 10 years. Where do you have the idea of "lack of decent teams"? Are UConn, Stamford, South Carolina, Maryland, Louisville and Baylor decent teams?

I’m a little unsure why you would use the six consensus best teams to argue against a post that is quite clearly referring (at minimum) to the bottom half of the bracket?

 

[Plebe]

"The expansion of the women’s tournament was among the recommendations put forth in August after a comprehensive external gender equity review conducted by the law firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink. It was commissioned after backlash driven by social media of disparities in the men’s and women’s tournaments, including weight rooms and other facilities."