Since 1985, after the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Tournament expanded from 48 teams to 64 teams, the lowest seed to win the National title was #8-ranked Villanova. As if this were not discouraging enough for the other 58 teams in the tournament, the NCAA is now trying to expand once more, this time to 96 teams.
“I think it would be good to increase the number because there are quality players who would love to play in that game,” Valley Head Basketball Coach Virgil Watson said. “I think it’s great, when you walk into the arena everyone thinks they have a chance.”
I get it. Added revenue, and more teams are happy. But no one cares about making people happy, especially the networks that are looking for ratings.
Over the last three decades the NCAA tournament finals have seen a drop of about 10 million viewers, from 30 million to around 20 million. From 2006-2008 the finals saw an average of 18.9 million views, a number that is partly due to a slight drop from ‘07-‘08. The tournament’s answer to the equation: add more teams.
Coincidentally college football, which has cut teams in the current economic crisis, has seen dramatic increases in ratings. Just this past year, a 72-year Hofstra football program cut their program altogether due to budget constraints. Northeastern also terminated their program Nov. 23 2009, according to The New York Times. This in conjunction with the Humanitarian Bowl, which saw a 218 percent increase in viewers from last year’s game, and the Hawaii Bowl, that saw a 119 percent increase, according to Nielsen.
But this is not a new development. The NBA and MLB have been struggling to keep up with the NFL for years now. The fact is people just don’t have time to watch 900 games every season, and the advertisers who bid on the networks’ commercial times aren’t targeting the guy who does have the time anyway.
This plan of adding 32 more teams, on top of being a revenue scheme destined for failure, is an injustice to the kids. Since 1985 the #1 seed has played and beaten the #16 team a hundred times. This is the #16 seed we are talking about here. This is a seeded team in one of college’s most prestigious tournaments where the cinderella team can win… unfortunately not. The #2 seed has beaten the #15 seed 96 times, the #3 seed has beaten #14 85 times and the lowest seed to even break into the final four since 1979 was ranked #11. All leading to one final conclusion, if you’re not in the top eight you have no chance.
The addition of the 32-teams looks inevitable for next season’s tournament. Unfortunately, it will be just another step in the wrong direction for college basketball and its steadily declining viewers.
As more teams become “happy” and you begin to fill out your brackets, one thing is certain; college football and the NFL will contine to add nothing more than revenue and viewers.







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