Mac Engel: TCU coach accepts this fact: Expansion of March Madness is 'inevitable'

FORT WORTH, Texas — The NCAA claims to hold 92 championships in 24 sports for its member institutions, and of those, one is known to make a profit.

Which is why the NCAA will soon expand its men’s basketball tournament from 68 teams to pick-your-number. This is about survival.

“It’s inevitable,” TCU men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon said.

All of the idealists and purists who love March Madness the way it was when we were kids need to get over it.

Major college conference basketball tournaments start this week, with the NCAA announcing its respective March Madness 68-team brackets late in the afternoon on Sunday, March 15.

Somewhere in the next hour after the field is announced, there will be contemplation and whining about the specter of the NCAA growing its postseason field, most likely to 76 teams.

“[Expansion] is not the devil. I don’t understand this stance of morality that you are going to murder somebody if you expand the tournament,” Dixon said in response to much of the online outrage of the thought of expanding the field. “I wouldn’t say I am in favor of it, but it’s not the end of the world if we do.”

Think of it as an example of playoff expansion. When was the last time a major sports organization did not grow its playoffs, because that’s where the real money is.

Why people don’t want the NCAA tournament to expand

This won’t take long.

— Adding more teams violates the sanctity of “it was better when I was younger.” People complained when the tournament expanded from 32 to 64 in 1985.

— Expanding to a single-elimination tournament typically adds teams that are not a threat, and is entirely about revenue around quantity rather than quality.

No. 1 is subjective idealism. No. 2 has weight.

“There are less teams capable right now than ever before and there’s many have-nots, and it’s not their fault,” former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday on “The Field of 68” podcast. “I don’t think you mess with something that’s gold. It’s gold.”

Why people do think the NCAA tournament ‘should’ expand

The math isn’t terrible; 361 schools compete in NCAA Division I men’s basketball; increasing the field to 76 means 21% of the teams are in the “playoffs.” The following are the percentages of teams that make North America’s largest respective postseasons:

— NHL: 50%

— NBA: 53.3%

— MLS: 61%

— NFL: 43.75%

— MLB: 40%

— CFP: 9% (figure fluctuates depending on how many teams are in the NCAA’s FBS; last season was 136).

Coaches want an expanded playoff field because it gives them a better chance to improve their resume, and increase job security.

Adding a few more teams could potentially provide a solution to the dominant mid-major team that has a great regular season only to fail to win its conference-tournament championship, and lose out on its league’s one NCAA tournament bid.

Navy’s 17-1 record in the Patriot League this season is the best in the conference by six games. In the Patriot League semifinals, the Midshipmen were upset by Boston University by one point on a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.

An expanded field would in theory help a Navy, but in reality expect the tournament selection committee to pursue at-large bids for the teams from the major conferences, specifically the Big Ten and the SEC. The more those teams flood the field, the better the chance the NCAA has of preventing the two highest-profile college leagues in America from breaking away and starting their own major college organization.

“I would say I’d think it should [be expanded], but I wouldn’t die on a cross for it,” Dixon said.

The final reason, of course, is cash.

In 2010, the NCAA agreed to a 14-year, $11 billion contract with CBS and Turner. That deal was extended, in 2016, and added $8.78 billion to a contract that will now expire in 2032.

According to TV network professionals, this contract is dramatically undervalued for what March Madness is actually worth, especially in the age of legalized gambling across the United States.

Also, CBS and Turner officials have told the NCAA if the field expands, there will be no new money. The “new money” would come from sponsorships, ticket sales and other deals the NCAA negotiates as part of an expanded field.

Unlike the rest of the NCAA’s other championship tournaments, its men’s basketball tournament is the only one that makes money, whereas the rest generate revenue but don’t offset the costs.

From a TV timing perspective, increasing NCAA tournament field to 78 can fit. According to TV executives, as long as the NCAA tournament is carried by CBS, it all has to “fit” in a three-week window leading into the coverage of the Masters. The national title game is on Monday, April 6; the Masters begins April 9.

That would mean conference tournaments end on Saturday/Sunday, and the additional NCAA tourney games would be played on Tuesday/Wednesday, similar to the “First Four” games on those two days.

As much as purists may loathe it, NCAA tournament expansion is, as Jamie Dixon said, inevitable.

____