The First Four in Dayton is now but quaint memory as we careen head-on into the brand new Mediocrity Mega Mania era, a sprawling NIT Lite of a play-in to the NCAA tournament that will include not eight but 24 teams. You didn’t ask for it, and baby, you got it.
This is the result of the NCAA’s impending decision to expand the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments from 68 to 76, which according to reports yesterday is all but done and will be implemented for 2027. On the men’s side, at least, all eight new spots will be at-large bids. No longer must we suffer the painful what-ifs that come when a 16-15 SEC team is excluded from the field.
The math requires a move from the First Four to the, er, First Twelve, which will also require a second venue to host games on Tuesday and Wednesday of the first round. (Las Vegas appears to be the favorite at this point.) Only 52 teams will be guaranteed a spot in the proper 64-team field on Selection Sunday, and this naturally will come at the expense of mid-major programs. To balance the eight extra at-larges, mid-major auto-qualifiers that would have otherwise been in the main draw will be forced to fight for those spots. Not that anybody running the power conferences cares about that.
The tournament will be much worse for this, and they’re just shifting the post-Selection Sunday complaining down a tier, but on the bright side, the power conferences get to make slightly more money, and that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Why not jeopardize a popular, singular event so a few additional mediocre teams with mediocre coaches can feel good about themselves for 48 hours?