Izzo wants to do away with the automatic bid for smaller conferences. Time for Tom to retire . Kentucky/Oakland and a bunch of other great games don't happen if gets his way. Sorry Tom but the reason the Big 10 has not won a Championship in over twenty years is not because we need more teams from the bigger conferences. You need to do a better job recruiting and coaching.
Tom Izzo
- Thread starter friar10
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this is all part of the scheme to expand the tournament which will flood it with 12-14 schools from each power conference
With all sport leagues like the Big and with the current Nil situation why should lesser leagues including the Bigeast get the advantage of supporting only 4 or five men and womens sports when the major programs support 14 or 15. One or two major upsets would happen under any scenario. Let the non power/ non all sport leagues do their own thing.
Friar is a good poster here.
I was really surprised to read Izzo's comments too. Just leave the damn thing alone
If anything, just go back to 64. No need to belittle the "play-in" teams.
As a fan, watching the conference tournaments of the one bid leagues is just as thrilling as the NCAA Tournament itself.
And it goes without saying that watching 12-16 seeds take down bigger programs is awesome drama.
And it goes without saying that watching 12-16 seeds take down bigger programs is awesome drama.
He doesn’t want to play middle Tennessee state again
The lack of continuity at the blue blood programs has created opportunities for smaller schools that recruit under the radar program guys who stay together for 3-4 years. The answer isn't excluding those teams. I suspect that the reason for the retirements of high profile coaches was the realization that despite great recruiting year in and year out, they wouldn't win championships keeping players around for only one year.
Izzo needs another human to bully and make himself feel better
Izzo zero concept of what makes the NCAA tournament so special somehow?
My team got left out did not deserve it. Would not change a thing. Why fix something that is not broken.
The secret sauce in those whole thing is the non P5 teams baked in to this tournament. P5 would be shooting itself in the foot trying to siphon revenue all to the themselves.
Much of America is not tuning in to 48 P5 schools playing each other.
Much of America is not tuning in to 48 P5 schools playing each other.
The only thing I would prefer is the smaller conferences send their regular season champ instead of the tournament champ. Get the best team from each conference over the course of the season.
Exactly the small schools are a huge part of tourney success. Who outside of Kentucky fans were not rooting for Oakland last night?
While some people like us love this... A lot of casual fans like to see the big names
This is why I spend about 2 min filling out a bracket and don't care about it anymore. I used to be really into it
I want to root for every single huge upset and not care if I have that team going far
Yup. I watched a ton of thr mid/low major tourneys. Watched a little of the B1G tourney, a little of the Big East, but not a second of the other P6.
Ha I fill one out but don't really follow along with it. For this reason exactly, I want to always root for the underdogs
I personally don't want that even though it means my team will be there most years. What do you think ?
I’m a college basketball junkie.
Izzo and everyone else involved in college basketball should be concerned that I might not even be watching the tournament in another few years with the way things are going.
Izzo and everyone else involved in college basketball should be concerned that I might not even be watching the tournament in another few years with the way things are going.
Exactly, what neutral basketball fan was riveted by NC State vs Texas Tech compared to Oakland vs Kentucky?
No will remember MSU beating Miss St. Few forget Lehigh beating Duke, St Peters run, Loyolas final 4.
Shut up Tom.
Shut up Tom.
I think more people remember that St. Peter’s went to the elite 8 in 2022 than Kansas winning the National Championship that same year. It’s always about the Cinderella story
Izzo .... ugh.... I am so wishy washy on him. Some days he's fine, other days he's a grumpy old man.
He is wrong on trying to eliminate the mid majors. I think he's just afraid he's going to lose to one.
He is wrong on trying to eliminate the mid majors. I think he's just afraid he's going to lose to one.
Where are all the macho men that demand RU play other power 5 schools in out of conference. Now they shut up and contend that teams from low majors who play no one in the regular season should get opportunities to get lucky and beat a power 5 school that kills itself in conference? Izzo is respected and has a valid opinion.
Izzo's plan is basically:
64 team tournament should include the 64 best teams
Somehow a board full of sports fanatics find these concept of merit bases tournament design offensive and contrary to CBB.
It's quite amusing to see sports fans beat the drum " A tournament to decide the championship should not include the best teams."
CBB fans: every conference deserves representation. Winning a conference is winning a conference!
CFB fans: Not all conferences are equal! Only winning certain conferences deserve representation!
Nobody does moving goalposts and backtracking quite like college sports fans.
CFB fans: Not all conferences are equal! Only winning certain conferences deserve representation!
Nobody does moving goalposts and backtracking quite like college sports fans.
Wondering if some of this is going away with the end of the extra covid year. You won't see many 6th year 24-25 year olds playing pivotal roles in key tourney upsets.
There are 350 division 1 basketball programs, how do you determine the best 64? Don’t say metrics because there’s a new metric that’s used every 3-4 years.
You start with the goal.
A goal of "64 best teams in a 64 team tournament" isn't crazy.
It makes the most sense actually.
How you determine that 64 is the key (and more difficult) process.
Don't have an answer to that.
But the idea of the best 64 is literally the best plan from a pure sports perspective.
However, it seems many CBB fans prefer a more TV friendly/ratings/money format prioritized.
This. I understand what Izzo is saying. It makes no sense that the tournament to determine the champion doesn't include the best teams. For example, St. Peter's got the MAAC automatic spot when they weren't even good. (See their 30 pt loss to us.) But, Izzo is ignoring the entertainment factor of the tournament. The short answer -- expansion is coming.
Disagree. America tunes in because of pools and P5 matchups. P5 by definition bring more eyeballs than the Catamounts and Jackrabbits. Duke is good for ratings. Charleston isn’t.
The conference agrees with Izzo’s take. It’s business, same as the CFB playoff expansion. It’s to get more blue bloods playing more games. If lesser programs had more slots there would be less interest and less revenue .
disagree somewhat. the moment a non P6 gets to 32, or 16, that game has more eyeballs than Duke vs P6 (unless maybe UNC).
also, not necessarily responding to this, but who on the bubble minus St John's and Seton Hall, can you say with certain is "Top 64."