More for Big Guys

NCAA’s tourney expansion won’t help everyone

By Jim Gazzolo

Southland Conference basketball is on the rise. 

Over the past few years, the league has seen a jump in the number of talented teams, thanks to schools' investments in the sport.

McNeese has stood atop the league the past three seasons and looks only to be getting better if you take a look at this year’s recruiting class. Conference officials long for the day when the Southland may become a two-bid league when it comes to NCAA Tournament bids.

However, the news that the Big Dance is expanding to 76 teams next year should not be seen as a real opportunity for the Southland to gain that extra bid.

Most of the expansion will likely lead to more teams from the Power 4 conferences getting bids, as the committee is leaning more toward those guys. It’s a clear case of the rich getting richer in hopes of those games drawing bigger television numbers.

Those numbers mean one thing: money. And we all know it is money that runs the actual show.

Meanwhile, the mid-majors continue to struggle to find their footing and opportunities. It will also make finding Cinderellas much harder, as big conferences take up a larger share of the spotlight. 

It is just another way college sports continue to change into a much more businesslike model and away from the days of amateur play. 

Some of the bigger mid-major leagues, like the Atlantic 10, could see some benefits in some years. There is a case to be made for those leagues to earn an extra bid every third season.

Miami of Ohio’s big regular season, in which the program went undefeated, handed the Mid-American Conference two bids. The Missouri Valley has also received two bids in the past and could again, but it seems increasingly unlikely.

This is now a money game, one that the big schools have been playing for much longer. They have deeper pockets and want to ensure their schools receive the bulk of the income generated by tournament games.

It is unlikely that bigger profits lead to more entertainment.

What makes the early portion of the tournament great are the upsets. If you give more big schools bids, it is hard to imagine there will be more stories built around those upsets. 

McNeese made its mark on college basketball with just such an upset, when the Cowboys knocked off Clemson two years ago in the first round. More big school just seems to take away those chances.

Bigger isn’t always better. 

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers sports in Southwest Louisiana. He is also the host of Poke Nation, which airs weekly on CBS-Lake Charles.