Amid the most important month for college basketball, ESPN's long-time analyst Jay Williams has brought attention back to the possibility of a bracket expansion.
The former Duke Blue Devil played in Durham from 1999-2002. He won the National Championship game in 2001 with the Blue Devils.
"Let's just do 112 teams. The top 16 teams get a bye in the first round. The first round of 96 teams: 24 games played on Tuesday, 24 games played on Wednesday. Then you have the round of 64: Thursday 16 games; Friday 16 games. Then you get to the round of 32: eight games on Saturday; eight games on Sunday. 96 games in six days. This way, let everybody get in."Jay Williams
The NCAA Tournament currently includes 68 teams, eight of which partake in the First Four round to narrow the field to the 64 teams that make the Big Dance.
The point of March Madness is to give the top 68 teams a round of applause for their incredible seasons. It also gives the teams who accomplished said incredible season a chance to vie for the ultimate prize: the national title.
Expanding the tournament field to 112 teams, nearly doubling what it already sits at, is absolutely asinine.
Jay Will you wild bro!!! 112 team bracket 🫠 @FirstTake
— Cass Harvey, MBA (@Coach_Cass8) March 25, 2024
(This is an awful idea, they shouldn't do it)
— A Clark (@CommanderClark8) March 23, 2024
112 team bracket: 6 guaranteed spots for P6 (36), 32 regular season winners, 32 conference tournament winners (reg season champ does not participate), 12 at larges. 8 teams get byes.
You know an argument is bad when Jay Williams is the voice of reason pic.twitter.com/r7VEySBgJe
— Ryan Hickey (@Ryan_Hickey3) March 25, 2024
Trying to double check your bracket with 112 teams in it pic.twitter.com/hJZotFVLS7
— Rob Stephan🦬 (@RobtheBlob11) March 26, 2024
Not only would it force players to participate in additional rounds of game, when their bodies are already often pushed to the limits, it would drag the tournament to a ridiculous length.
Forcing teams, that are comprised of kids at the end of the day, to play in 96 games in six days is a ridiculous suggestion, especially coming from someone who used to compete at this level.
The expansion to a 112-team tournament would also lead to a less competitive regular season. There would be no true motivation for teams to stand apart from the rest during pre-conference and conference play.
To put it simply, if almost every team gets into the tournament, what's the point of trying throughout the rest of the year?