At last, March Madness has arrived.
There's nothing quite like March Madness, a tournament that unifies and excites the country much more than any politician ever could. The days in between Selection Sunday and the start of the first rounds are exciting; as hope springs eternal with each bracket filled. Debate runs high, emotions rise and fall in seconds — it's simply the best playoff system we've got in sports.
And yet, despite all that, I'd still like to make one tweak with the tournament. It still needs one little change.
I'd love to see a different type of play-in game.
I don't think the play-in game should be for the 16th seed. If a team earns an automatic bid, get them into the first round, regardless of their RPI. What was the reward for Alabama State going 21-9 and winning the SWAC regular season and tournament? Ending their season in Dayton, Ohio. Yes, the Hornets weren't going to be national champions, but there's still something about the end to their season that just doesn't seem right.
Morehead State is going to become Louisville's sacrificial lamb. It doesn't make that play-in game so interesting, does it? At least, though, Morehead State will get a taste of the real dance. As much as the NCAA tries to legitimize it, the 16 vs. 16 matchup simply doesn't provide any March Madness feel, let alone any reward to the teams who won their conference tournament. They knew, going in, that chances for a national title weren't very realistic. They just wanted to step out on the big stage. And frankly, Dayton simply isn't that stage.
So, I say let's change it up. Instead of a 16 vs. 16 matchup between teams with automatic bids, let's take two at-large teams, sitting squarely on the bubble, and have them fight in a 12 vs. 12 matchup. Have them meet at Kansas City's Sprint Center, a terrific facility that's as neutral as can be, being right in the middle of the country, and give the smaller conferences at least a chance to take their shots at the big boys as legitimate number 16 seeds.
Think about this ... instead of Alabama State and Morehead State kicking things off, what if it was Arizona and St. Mary's, fighting for the chance to play Utah?
That'd make for a compelling matchup: two teams who were on the bubble, fighting their way into the brackets. The fifth seed that takes on the winner (in this scenario, Utah), gets a much tougher 12 seed than usual, but at the same time, gets one extra chance to scout their opponents. The TV ratings would obviously be bigger for such a matchup, and imagine the extra twist in every office pool in America! You've got drama before the madness. It's exciting just to think about the possibilities.
Play-in games aren't fun. It's basically a 48-hour rush to prepare, fly to your locale, and get ready to play a game that no team really was expecting to play. If we're going to do this, let's make it two at-large teams, who would just be relieved to keep their dreams alive, instead of two teams who won their tournaments, thinking they had the automatic chance to dance.
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