Greg Sankey isn’t the first to pitch the expansion of the NCAA tournament. SEC Commissioner Proposes to Sports IllustratedHe’s not even the first Greg. In 2010, Greg Shaheen, then-vice president of men’s basketball for the NCAA, shrugged off the unpopular debate of expanding the bracket to his 96 teams. It didn’t work. Shaheen torpedoed so hard in that year’s Final Four that the NCAA withdrew, offering the First Four as a compromise instead.
Well, Greg Sankey is a smart guy. he is great And the answer to him is the same as to Shaheen’s pitch to 96, and should be delivered with the same force of n and o. He and his colleagues have already ruined much of college sports with their power-hungry drive to own the world—leave the NCAA tournament alone. it doesn’t hurt you fall back. please stay away shoe. Git. You don’t care about college basketball, anyway. Back in the bunker to ruin the rivalry, ask more Olympic sports teams he travels 3,000 miles to compete in conferences, and rewrite the very terrain of college track and field. .
For those who can’t read between the lines of what Sankey is claiming, let me help. Here’s what he told Sports Illustrated: I think there is health in that conversation. It does not exclude people. It’s how we get people involved in the annual national celebration that leads to national champions. ” Sounds good. even altruistic. Cumbaya, better. Let’s make sure everyone who deserves a shot at the national title has it.
Please. Ever heard of wolves in sheep’s clothing? “Just double check everything,” he said. “When we think collectively, everyone goes to a corner and says, ‘I have to stick to my stuff.’ But how do we contribute and build together?” Hmm, I don’t know. Tell me, Greg. Or wait, ask the Big 12 how they should work together. I’m sure the people there are thrilled with the collective effort to break up their meeting.
Sankey’s altruism for the NCAA tournament is as genuine as it is for the Big 12. He doesn’t mean his Missouri Valley team will grow. He doesn’t think SoCon should get additional bids. He means the power league, the one that has every viable opportunity to step up his resume by doing that crazy thing: win the game! “I thought Texas A&M should have been on the basketball field[last season],” he said. AggiesFinished the regular season with a 20-11 record, giving top-ranked opponents a chance to boost their CVs auburn Instead, we lost by 17. At one point he lost eight games in a row. north floridaAbilene Christian, houston baptist, new orleans, north west province When central arkansasAccording to Sankey, the team deserves to participate in the tournament.
why? Honestly? Because the SEC has expanded and more of his team needs to be on board (note, the SEC has not won a national title since). kentucky in 2012 Is it now a basketball school or not, depending on who you ask). More bids equal more NCAA units, which means more money. This is what it’s all about – greed for money and more, an attempt to wipe out what has already proven to be an insatiable appetite. Dilute the product with water. Yes, the beauty of tournaments is that anyone can win — St. Peters can beat Kentucky — but St. Peters earns on automatic bidding and A&M wins Hall Pass There is a difference in doing.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey wants to “reconsider” the NCAA Tournament. (Dale Zanin/USA Today)
The scary part about all this is that Greg Sankey isn’t Greg Shaheen. He’s arguably one of the strongest players in college sports, and he just so happens to head the NCAA Transformation Commission. When he speaks, it’s not off the cuff. This is not the vain ramblings of a man without an agenda. Because Sankey wasn’t just ruminating about expanding college tournaments, he was bored. This is a test balloon, like Shaheen’s, so don’t be at all surprised if you reach a similar “compromise”. It may not be 96 teams. For example, why not try 80? The NCAA, as an entity and as a matter of necessity, is currently very vulnerable. Sankey’s mandate on the Transformation Board is to imagine new ways for it to exist and function. much of it is needed. The rulebook is outdated, the enforcement process is unhelpful, and even the governance structure is cumbersome and messy.
But who’s complaining about the NCAA Tournament? It’s the only thing the people of Indianapolis don’t have to protect. But if Sankey is talking about change, who can stop him? Some would like Dan Gavit to be consulted, like someone with the same title that Shaheen once did. But if the threat is our way or our highway, what options does the NCAA have?
Commissioners and athletic directors of smaller leagues and schools are concerned about the loss of automatic qualifiers where entire fields are selected based on things like NET rankings. Sankey didn’t say anything about the drastic change, but the anxiety is understandable. There are only a few seats at the table, they are all occupied, and there is no Big South Commissioner, or Big East Commissioner for that matter. Since college expansion began, decisions have been made about college basketball, but never with college basketball in mind. He’s talking about college basketball in general, but specifically about small secret societies in schools (most of him) that could benefit from expansion.
And you have to stop before you start.
Post-pandemic Sankey has poetically spoken out about the word cloud search results his office has returned to after the league decided to play football during the 2020 COVID-19-challenged season. “Hope,” he said. once again. Somewhere in Birmingham he hopes people in the SEC office are doing the same exercise today.
Because the word he sees is not “hope”. it is no.
No.
(Photo above: Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
