I think they should ditch the NIT and expand the NCAA Tournament to 96 teams, with the top 32 getting a bye.
Or have a 64 team NIT field, with the first round winners moving into the Big Dance and the losers dropping down into a “losers bracket” where teams can keep playing until they hit two total losses.
kevind716, Well, the reason that the big schools talk about expansion is that they do want more of the pie right now… they aren’t talking about letting more mid-majors in the tourney… let’s put it that way.
They currently can’t break away from the NCAA with existing tv contracts, but notice, none of them are inking any future tv deals. They want more of the pie, and the NCAA is going to bend over backwards for them in the meantime as they see it as their only chance at a future.
Still, there’s just too much money at stake for the mega football/basketball schools to not dust the NCAA (and all of the other non-major universities) off their boots. College athletics as we know it has a definitive timeline.
Buckets…I am with you on expansion of NCAA tournament. I don’t see expanding to 96 or NIT going away, but an increase to 72 or 76 seems realistic.
As far as a double elimination tournament, I just don’t see that ever happening, plus a single elimination tournament is what makes March Madness arguably the best sporting event of them all.
Let me clarify: the first loss would drop a team into the NIT. Not a double-elimination in the Big Dance. Another loss and they’d be bounced out altogether.
I kind of like your NIT as the loser bracket idea buckets…don’t think I’ve heard that idea before.
Thanks.
It’s something I’ve been thinking about since the time (I think was 2005) the NCAA acquired the NIT. (As an aside for you younger Broncos who may not know: many years ago the NIT was THE PREMIER TOURNAMENT.)
With all of the arguments over bubble teams who get in and who are left out, a field of 96 makes this moot. I doubt there would be as much angst over the
97th team missing out as there currently is for the 69th! I also think it would improve TV ratings for the NIT, because it would give those highly-ranked big conference teams who lose a tough game the chance to keep playing.
Given the NCAA owns the NIT, why not do this? It would mean more money for everyone involved.
MNGA! MAKE the NIT GREAT AGAIN! 
I love it buckets, we need to get you on the selection committee!
My idea for a while has been to have an FA Cup style tournament (for any soccer fans out there) during the season.
For those that aren’t familiar… EVERY team would be invited in all D1-D3. That would be around 1200 teams.
It would be single elimination, and each round is a completely random draw - there is no seeding, and home teams are chosen at random.
There would be 10 rounds, and all teams throughout the country would be required before the season to keep those dates open ahead of time.
This was England’s first way to select a national champion as leagues were much more regionalized back in the day. Today its purpose serves as sharing the wealth between the ultra rich premier league teams and those struggling to survive in the lower leagues.
I think this would tangentially help some of the scheduling issues mid majors have in getting bigger programs to come into their gyms.
If we really wanted to incorporate the English soccer format, then the winner of the “cup” and the winner of march madness would face off in the kickoff week to the next season.
Here is the latest NIT bracketology as we head into this week’s WCC Tournament. Both are as of Monday, March 3rd. I have listed teams that we have faced this season too. Lastly, both have USF and SCU in, but viewed quite differently relative to seeding.
DRatings:
USF…#2 Seed
Bradley…#4 Seed
Santa Clara…#5 Seed
Stanford…#6 Seed
TCU…#6 Seed
Nevada…#8 Seed
Oregon St…#8 Seed
Barking Crow:
SCU…#2 Seed vs Colorado St.
TCU…#3 Seed
Bradley…#4 Seed
Stanford…#6 Seed
USF…#7 Seed
Arizona St…#7 Seed
Oregon St…#8 Seed
All that being said, let’s just make it a moot point and win three in a row in Vegas!!!
Take it for what it’s worth, but here’s a chart that purports to measure how well a team performed relative to its talent. It shows SCU significantly under-performing its talent this year (though not as badly as Gonzaga). SMC, USF, and OSU are all over-performing their talent based on results.
Fodder for conversation, in any event.
I was surprised with all the preseason hype that our roster rank per analytics sites in the WCC was as low as 7th….Below LMU…
I guess they were mostly right given the games we gave away in the final minutes. 
I know feelings and emotions are still rather raw from last night’s stunning loss, so I don’t know if this will provide any consolation.
As of today (3/10), DRatings has SCU in the NIT rather comfortably as a #5 seed. Oregon St is projected as among the “last 4 in”. Of course, much will depend on how things shake out this week with other conference tournaments.
It is my hope that the NIT can serve as redemption and put last night behind them, for what’s done is done. I do think this team deserves a bid but prove that you belong…and that applies to this coaching staff too!!
I imagine we’ll get in.
But getting in isn’t enough. See my post 10days ago above. Broncos were bounced 2 to 3 days after getting the NIT nods in 2022 and 2023. Broncos need to win at least two, three gets you to Final 4. Need to win a couple to make some noise and maybe draw some interest of fans and make the Final 4 to partially erase the bad losses and ‘What Could Have Been’ of this season.
Bronc, right on. Dare to dream!
You seem more experienced so why do you think the coaches keep going to Bal in late game ISO’s?
Doesn’t seem to be working well….
It’s because Sendek is clueless… they haven’t run an offensive set all year “just taking what the defense gives us” absolutely moronic way to play.
Avoid contact play, little to no in-game adjustments… 
NIT update (3/11)
DRatings:
USF & SCU in…Broncos #6 seed
Barking Crow:
USF # 2 seed vs Stanford
SCU # 5 seed @ LSU
Oooh a Carlos Stewart return to Baton Rouge to face LSU
I would guess we are almost a lock for the NIT because teams are going to turn down bids.
Isn’t there a new college basketball tournament that will take some of these teams?
Yes, you’re correct. It’s called The College Basketball Crown and it’s a 16 team tournament to be played in Vegas. Games will be televised on Fox and FS1.
Two teams will be selected from the Big East, Big 10, and Big 12, with remaining 10 bids selected by a committee. So, between the NIT and CBC, I expect we will be playing in one or the other. I don’t know what the monetary payout is on the CBC, but pretty certain it’s listed someplace.
Is this sponsored by the Saudi’s sovereign fund?