The NCAA tournament is about to get ruined. | The Boneyard

The NCAA tournament is about to get ruined.

Not gonna happen. The NCAA is dumb, but they're also greedy and this would cost them billions
 
They're also greedy, they want to be a part of the NCAA tournament. Maybe I'm naive but I just don't see it creeping into basketball. Football sure, but nobody will care about their basketball tournament if those 2 break off
They will if it happens in 10 years when they both take 8 schools of value off the hands of the Pac-12, ND, and ACC.
 
Plenty of people fear this. But evil will only succeed if good men do nothing.

That and CBS knows the value of the tournament as currently structured is greater than the ratings of random major programs, so the big conferences do not have the leverage as they do in football.

Plus, more teams = more games = more money. They'd have to add significantly more major conference teams to keep the same number of games, which at that point dilutes the regular season. Not to mention getting rid of automatic qualifiers makes the major conference tournaments irrelevant also, a money maker for many networks who will be against it.

There will be enough against this that I believe any smoke now will remain smoke. Not to say they won't try it, but I don't think they will succeed.
 
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Plenty of people fear this. But evil will only succeed if good men do nothing.

That and CBS knows the value of the tournament as currently structured is greater than the ratings of random major programs, so the big conferences do not have the leverage as they do in football.

Plus, more teams = more games = more money. They'd have to add significantly more major conference teams to keep the same number of games, which at that point dilutes the regular season. Not to mention getting rid of automatic qualifiers makes the conference tournaments irrelevant also, another money making for the networks.

There will be enough against this that I believe any smoke now will remain smoke. Not to say they won't try it, but I don't think they will succeed.
I sincerely hope you are right.
 
People want to see the Cinderellas. That's where the money is for CBS. CBS won't make money off a 15 seeded Ole Miss getting in over a 15 seed St. Peter's.
People spend 364 days a year not thinking about the Saint Peters of the world. If they don’t get into the tournaments, they’re not gonna be missed. Underdogs are about seatings. Whoever is the 16th seeded team is the underdog. That will be the drama people are looking for.
 
The solution of how the B1G and SEC hijack the prominence of the NCAA Tournament is simple:

The B1G and SEC with the backing of FOX can create a new entity which conducts the post season tournament (ie. “The College Basketball National Championship Tournament) with the to 10 teams in the B1G and SEC with invites from
The solution of how the B1G and SEC hijack the prominence of the NCAA Tournament is simple:

The B1G and SEC with the backing of FOX can create a new entity which conducts the post season tournament (is. The College Basketball National Championship Tournament”) with the to 10 teams in the B1G and SEC with invites from the best teams from non Big10/ SEC schools to participate to compete with the NCAA tournament with larger payouts for participants. Both tournaments would claim to crown the National Championship but over time with the absence of the B1G and SEC schools the new tournament would win out Much like the NCAA torpedoed the NIT in the 1960s.

If I recall correctly this is kinda how the NCAA outpaced the once dominant NIT. Recall Marquette Coach Al Maguire snubbing the NCAA Tournament when he did not like his team’s seeding and the NCAA thereafter imposing a rule that if a school is invited to the NCAA it cannot play in another tournament.
the best teams from non Big10/ SEC schools to participate to compete with the NCAA tournament with larger payouts for participants. Both tournaments would claim to crown the National Championship but over time with the absence of the B1G and SEC schools the new tournament would win out much like the NCAA torpedoed the NIT in the 1960s.
 
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I’ve said forever that the big conference teams who are perpetually in deficit despite making all of the television money would eventually come for the NCAA tournament. They most definitely will.

People who think otherwise also believe in unicorns.
 
I’ve said forever that the big conference teams who are perpetually in deficit despite making all of the television money would eventually come for the NCAA tournament. They most definitely will.

People who think otherwise also believe in unicorns.
Everyone seems to be in burn it all down mode. Burning down the best thing in sports obviously makes no sense so they will try and do it.
 
Ugh, I have nothing profound to add. If the NCAA tournament as we know gets diminished by the conference realignment of the B1G and SEC, that's terrible and vomit inducing.
 
They're also greedy, they want to be a part of the NCAA tournament. Maybe I'm naive but I just don't see it creeping into basketball. Football sure, but nobody will care about their basketball tournament if those 2 break off
Without the B1G and SEC, there is no NCAA tournament
 
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I don't think it will be a Big Ten and SEC only tournament. I think it will be a tournament that is based purely on the top 64 (no need for the dumb play-ins) teams. Remarkably and coincidentally (sarcasm), 90%+ of the top 64 teams will be from the Power X conferences.

As much as we'll complain, plenty of people will still watch. A lot won't even notice the difference. Maybe it won't even make as much money as it used to (it probably will), but now the Power X will keep more of the share, and control. We just need to hope that the Big East is Power X.
 
Plenty of people fear this. But evil will only succeed if good men do nothing.

That and CBS knows the value of the tournament as currently structured is greater than the ratings of random major programs, so the big conferences do not have the leverage as they do in football.

Plus, more teams = more games = more money. They'd have to add significantly more major conference teams to keep the same number of games, which at that point dilutes the regular season. Not to mention getting rid of automatic qualifiers makes the major conference tournaments irrelevant also, a money maker for many networks who will be against it.

There will be enough against this that I believe any smoke now will remain smoke. Not to say they won't try it, but I don't think they will succeed.

P2 or P6 or something between start their own tournament and they will make more money than they do now. End of story. Will you watch a G5 only tournament?
 
I guess there are a lot of reasons why but to me I could care less about most of the the SEC and B1G teams. Outside of a few good teams in each league each year they are just other conferences to me.
It must be the regional appeal of the Big East, the rivalries etc. and in its favor the TV markets which attract so much basketball talent. I think it will get better with Uconn and perhaps some better talent
in coaching in some of the weaker teams. I'm hoping for a greater renaissance where the games will take on a more rabid fan base. I still have to marvel at Dave Gavitt's insight and zeal into the formation of the league. Every year the best players were leaving these big eastern cities to areas better known for tobacco and corn. What's wrong with that picture? How do you keep the talent home and draw in outsiders as well and make money doing it? Form a conference of the best TV markets in the Northeast and Northcentral and showcase the college basketball talent. Simple and ingenious.
 
People spend 364 days a year not thinking about the Saint Peters of the world. If they don’t get into the tournaments, they’re not gonna be missed. Underdogs are about seatings. Whoever is the 16th seeded team is the underdog. That will be the drama people are looking for.
I respectfully disagree.

One of the major draws is seeing David beat Goliath. A 16 seed Ole Miss is not a David...it is just heavyweight vs bigger heavyweight and loses its luster.

My family, friends and I pay more attention to the little guys beating the big guys when UConn isn't playing than anything else. It's what makes it Madness.

Anything else would be March Melodrama.
 
And nobody will care about whatever knockoff those 2 conferences create, so they're not going anywhere
With the promise of a chunk of money, the other top conferences will care.

The problem in all of this is, how will the NCAA fund the playoffs in all other sports if it's cut out of the bball tournament.

That's the one the schools have to crack. I think it's a logistical nightmare.
 
With the promise of a chunk of money, the other top conferences will care.

The problem in all of this is, how will the NCAA fund the playoffs in all other sports if it's cut out of the bball tournament.

That's the one the schools have to crack. I think it's a logistical nightmare.
The most likely thing to happen is the major conferences/D1 just taking all the money. Not creating a separate tournament, just defunding D2/D3 and pocketing that money by allocating almost all the NCAA tournament money to tournament credits (leaving just enough for NCAA to fund the organization itself and run the D1 championships).
 
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While I don’t see an end to the current auto bid format anytime soon (maybe optimistically) there is a pretty clear path for the BIG and SEC to destroy the NCAA tournament. And it may just happen as collateral damage is the attempt to breakaway / negotiating over more power for football.

Yes, the NCAA tournament makes the NCAA $1B every year. But in 2019 only $170 million was actually paid out to the conferences / schools in it. NCAA kept the rest (I assume to “support” other non-revenue sports)

Even if the BIG and SEC currently gets 50% of that (they don’t), that’s only $65 million.

It’s not crazy to think a new tournament could fetch more than that for the super conferences if they took it to market. Even if they set aside some money to payout other non-super conference schools who participate.
 
The most likely thing to happen is the major conferences/D1 just taking all the money. Not creating a separate tournament, just defunding D2/D3 and pocketing that money by allocating almost all the NCAA tournament money to tournament credits (leaving just enough for NCAA to fund the organization itself and run the D1 championships).
They'll have to create a whole other organization outside the NCAA. Because those D2/D3 schools are part of the NCAA. Which returns us to the problem again: logistical nightmare of running D1 sports championships, especially when schools are in different divisions for different sports.
 
They'll have to create a whole other organization outside the NCAA. Because those D2/D3 schools are part of the NCAA. Which returns us to the problem again: logistical nightmare of running D1 sports championships, especially when schools are in different divisions for different sports.
I don't see why them being part of the NCAA matters.

$100 mil that goes to D2/D3 in the NCAA budget just gets allocated to tournament credit allocations.

To quote Office Space, "we just.. fixed the glitch." They can keep sporting in the basement, but the P6 wont care either way if they fold.
 
I don't see why them being part of the NCAA matters.

$100 mil that goes to D2/D3 in the NCAA budget just gets allocated to tournament credit allocations.

To quote Office Space, "we just.. fixed the glitch." They can keep sporting in the basement, but the P6 wont care either way if they fold.
Because they won't agree to those changes
 
Because they won't agree to those changes
And that is where the leverage comes in. D2 and D3 have absolutely none. At that point the p5 can threaten to leave and create their own thing. The non-power D1 will freak out and D2 and D3 die. Their existence is at the charity of the P5.
 
With the promise of a chunk of money, the other top conferences will care.

The problem in all of this is, how will the NCAA fund the playoffs in all other sports if it's cut out of the bball tournament.

That's the one the schools have to crack. I think it's a logistical nightmare.
The P2 will have more than enough cash to pay for their Olympic sports championships. Everyone else will have to make due. More playoff games on the higher seeds campus, etc.
 
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