If the NCAA tournaments in men’s and women’s basketball expand again, the Division I Transformation Commission will be remembered as the catalyst.
In recent weeks, the committee has informally Potential A philosophical change to how some NCAA postseason tournaments are structured, sources told CBS Sports. Last week in Chicago, Commission Co-Chairs Julie Cromer (Ohio Athletic Director) and Greg Sankey (SEC Commissioner) met directly with his 31 other commissioners representing the Association of Conference Commissioners, and for the first time, 1 He proposed two specific rule changes. still in a rudimentary stage.
The Commission is considering the idea of allowing up to 25% of a sport’s teams to qualify for the NCAA bracket in that sport in all Division I sports. In layman’s terms and extremes, this means that college basketball’s population of 363 schools could theoretically one day allow for 90 teams in March of His Madness.
Basketball will inevitably get the most scrutiny and attention on such topics, but sources say this potential future rule change could help improve sports like baseball, lacrosse and soccer. At this stage, desire for a “substantial” expansion of basketball’s NCAA tournament has been minimal, according to various NCAA sources.
“They threw the concept out there for the commissioner to consider and get back to AD,” one league commissioner told CBS Sports. I’m talking about everything [sports], it’s not just basketball conversation. But we all know basketball will be the most transformative. ”
“Sankey has been frustrated with the way baseball has played out over the past year,” a source said, referring to the selection and seeding process in NCAA baseball tournaments.
When pressed on the topic of any kind of NCAA tournament expansion, a source told CBS Sports, “I think it’s a little premature. The concept is up for debate.”
That belief was shared by four conference commissioners who spoke about their backgrounds in CBS Sports. NCAA stakeholders say expansion of the 68-team tournament could face backlash, especially for a sport already facing a difficult climb due to the urgency and national relevance of its regular season. This topic is a mild one because we are aware of the
Another league commissioner said, “The NCAA basketball tournament is absolutely critical to collegiate athletics. It is one of the most unique sporting events in the world. The structure we have now is working, a winner, and people love it.
The 25% concept was discussed in Indianapolis this week for the men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees, but was not picked up, according to one source. Another group that might bring up the topic is the men’s basketball selection committee, which met on Zoom Wednesday afternoon with all members for the first time since the summer. The Commission will meet again in person later this month in Houston, host of the 2023 Men’s Final Four.
The possibility of expanding March Madness in the years to come has been up in the air all through the offseason, but previously, some Onebid leagues were unable to maintain auto-qualifying status in the reformed NCAA Tournament. These concerns still exist, but at this point they are not as acute as they were at the beginning of summer.
“It’s too early to say whether AQ will be protected, but I think that’s the intention,” one of the commissioners in the Chicago room told CBS Sports. [It was a] very good conversation. Everyone shares thoughts and concepts. I don’t think I was too worried about extending the bracket. It’s all back to individual sports commissions.To say basketball is 88 years old [or 90] Not what the room looks like at this point. It really is what’s best for the sport and takes those recommendations back to the Transformation Commission. …in basketball does it make more sense to go to 70 or 72? Are You Really Missing Our Basketball Program? “
The Transformation Committee is the group responsible for making recommendations at a time of major change across Division I athletics, but it is the , is a sports-specific committee. Money, television, student benefits, logistics, staffed NCAA capacity, and other needs all need to be addressed.
“I can’t say that everyone is in favor of it,” another commissioner told CBS Sports. I don’t know, so nothing is finite.” [an expanded tournament].”
The question of potential expansion of tournaments in all Division I sports ties into the broader issue of identifying what it means to move forward as a Division I institution, the main task of the Transformation Commission. . It has been looming over the NCAA for months. The commission had an initial end date to finish its work by August. Now it has been postponed to the end of December. However, no detailed plans have yet been announced to develop a new master plan for DI.
“This whole transformation process is taking longer than we thought,” said one source. “That was until August. We are currently scheduled to break up in December, but in reality it is 12 weeks later. There are too many unresolved issues to finish all the work by then.”
The Transformation Commission met with the DI Council on Tuesday and Wednesday to present largely vague concepts and updates, much like it did at the CCA in Chicago last week.
The commissioner told CBS Sports, “There have been many complaints about the lack of membership standards and expectations. We don’t know what will happen to future DI members.
Another commissioner from the Onebid League expressed frustration over how long it was taking to roll out this change.
“The committee is focusing on things like expanding the bracket following the recommendation that all sports be at 25% of current membership,” he said. I’m concerned about membership requirements to know if certain members will participate.”
“We are too big,” said another source, who is trying to govern all DI sports under the same set of rules.
The DI Board hopes to hear something from the Transformation Commission on membership expectations by the end of October. This is a long-awaited document and could be the next element in pushing the NCAA into a new era.
