Tom Izzo calls possible NCAA Tournament expansion 'a delicate issue'
With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams this upcoming season and likely more in the near future, the idea of potentially expanding the NCAA Tournament field has also been discussed as well.
Not many coaches know the NCAA Tournament better than Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, who enters his 26th consecutive appearance in March Madness this year which starts with a first-round game against Mississippi State on Thursday. And ahead of the tournament, he gave his two cents on the round of 68 potentially featuring more teams in the future.
“Four days ago Saturday night, I was sitting there, and I saw some things on the tube, I was hoping they’d expand it to a hundred. But I do think it’s a delicate issue. I really do,” Izzo said.
“I feel for some teams that didn’t get in when you have those automatic bids. I’m not sure I understand why, but the conference tournament things, you can go, and like Purdue, go 17-3 and dominate the conference and then lose. It’s okay if it’s the second-place team, but I think that makes it hard, why some teams will get left out,” Izzo explained.
Winning a conference tournament automatically secures a team a seed in the NCAA Tournament, accounting for 36 teams in March Madness. But after that there’s no question that there’s some gray areas surrounding how the rest of the tournament field is selected, highlighted by the divisive NET Rankings system.
But adding more teams and inclusion to the NCAA Tournament will not fix team’s eventually looking from the outside in once March rolls around, and according to Izzo, will likely be a decision fueled by revenue over anything else.
“I don’t know if something could be fixed there. But then the conference tournament wouldn’t be as — it’s all about what is best for the financial part of it, if we were to be very blunt and honest with you, more than it is the player and teams.”
“As a guy that’s been on a lot of boards and everything, I really haven’t sat down and thought about what I’d like to see,” Izzo admitted. “But there’s getting to be more parity, there’s getting to be more unknowns, there’s getting to be more upsets, there’s getting to be more of these, what, 20 of the 32 conferences, the regular season champ did not (make the tournament) — it just doesn’t happen like that.”
More teams in the NCAA Tournament would add more worthy teams to March Madness and add even more excitement and revenue to one of the most beloved events across the sports landscape. But would it be best for the players, coaches, and other stakeholders that would be closely involved? That’s a decision Izzo’s glad he does not have to make.
“So I think it needs to be taken a serious look at. Thank God I’m not the czar, so I don’t have to take criticism for how I feel, and I’ll think about it after the tournament,” Izzo concluded.