ACC Proposes 346-Team NCAA Tournament

[xeus]

ACC - put your beer down. Let me call you an Uber.

[XU 23]

I just hope Dayton still gets the play-in games.

Those will be exciting.

"Grambling State SHOCKS Howard in stunning 40-39 upset."

[xubrew]

As you would predict, Dan Gavitt has basically said "No, not gonna do that."

Well...that was fun!

[drudy23]

Dumb idea.

[MADXSTER]

My thought is what does the ACC get out of this? What is their angle? They certainly are not entertaining the idea for the common good of all the NCAA teams. My guess is that whatever it is will be shared with other high profile conferences to push the same agenda.

[murray87]

Count me in the dumb idea camp. Only reason I can think it's been proposed was to get more than the normal cash windfall from the tourney so the "little" schools can benefit?

[sirthought]

It's a PR move. They can now tell their players, and players' families, and donors, that they were proactive to try to keep their dream of playing in the NCAA alive. They can tell their boards of governors that they were proactive in trying to keep a revenue stream alive for the whole industry.

Anyone proposing this would know it is a long shot to get approved, much less pull off. But they can say they were the ones to step forward with something, and it wasn't just for their conference.

[Muskie]

Link

There are 357 Division I programs in the country, with NCAA spokeswoman Meghan Durham saying 346 of those are eligible to play in next year’s tournament.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett said the ACC coaches are “united in strongly pursuing this” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that led to the cancellation of last year’s NCAA Tournament days before the field of 68 was set to be revealed. Multiple coaches said creating an everybody-gets-in format would be an incentive for schools as they create the safest conditions possible for returning to play.

[xubrew]

Already been shot down.

[Muskie]

Good... the idea sounded awful.