How's This For an Upset? The NCAA Saves Its Tournament

When one of the most-riveting NCAA Tournaments ever concluded three weeks ago, fans could debate the biggest upset: St. Mary’s beating Villanova, Northern Iowa over Kansas, Ohio thrashing Georgetown, or how about Butler’s magic carpet ride to the final game?

None of the above.  This year, the most startling upset came after March Madness, on April 22, when the NCAA voted to expand its tournament to 68 teams instead of the widely rumored, and just as widely disparaged, 96.

Sure, the NCAA had about 11 billion reasons to expand the tournament—the dollars of its new TV contract with CBS and Turner Sports. What’s stunning is that the NCAA’s decision actually reflected the sporting public’s opinion that wanted America’s best sporting event to be left alone.

If the NCAA really wants to shake things up, it will take those three extra tourney bids and assign “bubble” teams to the play-in game in each region.  Such an unprecedented run of good decision-making could make both the sports fan and the accountant smile.  Talk about a win-win! 

Imagine, a not-for-profit governing body historically accountable only to itself turning down an opportunity to make a naked cash grab and choosing to act in the public interest!  I’m not necessarily buying that, especially with the CBS/Turner check already in the mail. But still, consider the history of the NCAA’s fling with Mr. Corporate J. Green:

• Division I Final Four games are played in domed football stadiums where they can guarantee the sale of 70,000-plus seats, with 3,500 of them offering decent views of the floor.

• Said games are played on an NCAA-designed court, installed just for the tournament with no unsightly NBA or non-approved corporate logos visible, and drinking cups in the team bench and press areas are carefully branded with only NCAA-approved sponsorship logo.  Beverage choice doesn’t matter, so long as the cup reads “Dasani.”

• When the public annually clamors for a football playoff, the NCAA wrings its hands about missed class time for its “student-athletes.” But when the NCAA’s football powers want to add an extra home game against some tomato-can team, the NCAA overwhelmingly approves this turnstile-buster.

• The NCAA lobbies its longtime adversary, the NBA, to forbid entry into its draft directly out of high school. This averts the crisis of select 18-year-olds making instant millions in their chosen profession, allowing “one and done” freshman phenoms to instead line the pockets of the NCAA’s member institutions with gate and marketing receipts and attend about a semester of real college to ensure their eligibility.

The real mystery is why the NCAA chose to announce this during a slow news cycle, when most of the sports media was flipping out over the NFL Draft.  Don’t shrink from the spotlight! The NCAA should shout its empathy for the public good from its ample rooftop in Indianapolis. Strike while the iron is hot!

Because if it keeps this up, pretty soon it'll be selling sermons on restraint to the folks at Augusta National.