I thought about this the other day. One of the dangers of this Tournament and Number of Participating Teams is you have good teams taking the risk of being beaten a lower seeded team. The lower seeded teams with poor regular season records aren't going to make the Tournament anyway with that one Win, while the losing team may be harmed by that loss.
When I was growing up in Wisconsin, they had a 1 Class Tournament that was set up like this. Eight teams made the field, and the four first round games were played on Thursday. The winners went into the Winners Bracket and the Losers to a Consolation Bracket. On Friday Afternoon the 2 Consolation Games were played, and the 2 Winner's Bracket Games on Friday Night. On Saturday Afternoon the Consolation Bracket Game was played, as was the 3rd place game between the losers of Friday Nights Games. The Championship Game was played in a separate session Saturday night.
Suppose you did the same thing in the Big Ten Tournament. Take your top 8 teams from regular season, and seed them in this type of field. Nobody goes home until they play at least two games. If you lose a first round game, you have a chance to play the next day, and maybe into a 3rd game.
As all of these teams are almost assured of being in the NCAA field based upon their regular season work. Now the Tournament becomes an opportunity to make a final Statement to the Committee, and a loss to a Tournament Team doesn't do significant harm to your position.
Another bonus. You play your Championship game on Saturday night rather than late Sunday afternoon, where you put your two Championship Game teams in Tournament Seeding Hell.
When I was growing up in Wisconsin, they had a 1 Class Tournament that was set up like this. Eight teams made the field, and the four first round games were played on Thursday. The winners went into the Winners Bracket and the Losers to a Consolation Bracket. On Friday Afternoon the 2 Consolation Games were played, and the 2 Winner's Bracket Games on Friday Night. On Saturday Afternoon the Consolation Bracket Game was played, as was the 3rd place game between the losers of Friday Nights Games. The Championship Game was played in a separate session Saturday night.
Suppose you did the same thing in the Big Ten Tournament. Take your top 8 teams from regular season, and seed them in this type of field. Nobody goes home until they play at least two games. If you lose a first round game, you have a chance to play the next day, and maybe into a 3rd game.
As all of these teams are almost assured of being in the NCAA field based upon their regular season work. Now the Tournament becomes an opportunity to make a final Statement to the Committee, and a loss to a Tournament Team doesn't do significant harm to your position.
Another bonus. You play your Championship game on Saturday night rather than late Sunday afternoon, where you put your two Championship Game teams in Tournament Seeding Hell.