After the disaster of Selection Sunday, let's see if We can find some out of the box solutions to the problem.
The season for most teams now begins in October or early November Many teams play non counted Exhibition Games (glorified scrimmages) before playing meaningful games. Conferences are now so large that it has become impossible to play a round robin or even balanced Conference Schedule. My suggestion is this.
We cut a week off the season whether it involves knocking out Exhibition Games, cutting the number of Conference games or compressing the season by playing Conference games closer together. Teams can't play more than 30 countable games ( Conference Tourney games are an exempt addition). We cut a week off the season calendar and all Conferences complete their Tournaments a week earlier. The NCAA then identifies the Conference Tournament Automatic Bid Winners and the additional teams They want for an initial 60 Team Field. They don't seed teams at that point.
They then identify the next 16 Teams and have them compete the following week in a play in Tournament structured like a traditional High School Tournament. Four Games on Thursday, with the winners moving on to play on Saturday., with the Winners moving into the field. Same thing with a Friday- Sunday arrangement for teams in the other bracket. The brackets and games are set by blind draw, no seeding. Once the Sunday games are played, and the NCAA knows the entire field, it seeds the teams and We get the 64 team field and brackets We have today.
The losing teams can take the ball and go Home and shut up until next year, or accept an Nit bid without whining. It may not solve all the problems, but it might help.
The season for most teams now begins in October or early November Many teams play non counted Exhibition Games (glorified scrimmages) before playing meaningful games. Conferences are now so large that it has become impossible to play a round robin or even balanced Conference Schedule. My suggestion is this.
We cut a week off the season whether it involves knocking out Exhibition Games, cutting the number of Conference games or compressing the season by playing Conference games closer together. Teams can't play more than 30 countable games ( Conference Tourney games are an exempt addition). We cut a week off the season calendar and all Conferences complete their Tournaments a week earlier. The NCAA then identifies the Conference Tournament Automatic Bid Winners and the additional teams They want for an initial 60 Team Field. They don't seed teams at that point.
They then identify the next 16 Teams and have them compete the following week in a play in Tournament structured like a traditional High School Tournament. Four Games on Thursday, with the winners moving on to play on Saturday., with the Winners moving into the field. Same thing with a Friday- Sunday arrangement for teams in the other bracket. The brackets and games are set by blind draw, no seeding. Once the Sunday games are played, and the NCAA knows the entire field, it seeds the teams and We get the 64 team field and brackets We have today.
The losing teams can take the ball and go Home and shut up until next year, or accept an Nit bid without whining. It may not solve all the problems, but it might help.