Jerry Palm put together a mock "Field of 96"

Here's what it would look like, according to CollegeRPI.com's bracket guru.

East Region
#1 Kentucky vs. #16 Seton Hall/#17 Texas Tech winner
#8 Texas vs. #9 Wake Forest/#24 Arkansas-Pine Bluff winner
#4 Wisconsin vs. #13 Arizona State/#20 Louisiana Tech winner
#5 Temple vs. #12 Cornell/#21 Wofford winner
#2 West Virginia vs. #15 Memphis/#18 Nevada winner
#7 Clemson vs. #10 Mizzou/#23 North Texas winner
#3 New Mexico vs. #14 Ole Miss/#19 St. John's winner
#6 Marquette vs. #11 Washington/#22 UCSB winner

South Region
#1 Duke vs. #16 UConn/#17 Northeastern winner
#8 Cal vs. #9 Louisville/#24 Winthrop winner
#4 Purdue vs. #13 Siena/#20 Saint Louis winner
#5 Texas A&M vs. #12 Utah State/#21 Sam Houston State winner
#2 Villanova vs. #15 Wichita State/#18 NC State winner
#7 Richmond vs. #10 St. Mary's/#23 Robert Morris winner
#3 Baylor vs. #14 Illinois/#19 Murray State winner
#6 Notre Dame vs. #11 Old Dominion/#22 Montana winner

Midwest
#1 Kansas vs. #16 North Carolina/#17 William & Mary
#8 UNLV vs. #9 Northern Iowa/#24 Lehigh winner
#4 Maryland vs. #13 Mississippi State/#20 Northwestern winner
#5 Michigan State vs. #12 New Mexico State/#21 Houston winner
#2 Ohio State vs. #15 South Florida/#18 Illinois State winner
#7 Oklahoma State vs. #10 Georgia Tech/#23 Morgan State winner
#3 Georgetown vs. #14 UAB/#19 Marshall winner
#6 Tennessee vs. #11 San Diego State/#22 Oakland winner

West
#1 Syracuse vs. #16 Dayton/#17 Kent State
#8 Gonzaga vs. #9 Florida State/#24 East Tennessee State
#4 Vandy vs. #13 Virginia Tech/#20 Charlotte winner
#5 Butler vs. #12 UTEP/#21 Portland winner
#2 K-State vs. #15 Cincinnati/#18 Tulsa winner
#7 BYU vs. #10 Florida/#23 Vermont winner
#3 Pitt vs. #14 Rhode Island/#19 VCU winner
#6 Xavier vs. #11 GOPHERS/#22 Ohio winner

The one thing I will say is, it definitely would make the #1 and #2 seeds' first games (Round of 64) much more difficult. How long would it be after the first "1-16 upset" that we'd have a big-time coach complaining about the new set-up?

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Exactly what I was thinking SS. I don't think it could be set up that way. I mean, I know UNC sucked this year, but if I'm Kansas, that would suck to maybe have to play a team with that type of talent my FIRST round game. Or Duke maybe playing UConn.

In this scenario it looks like Palm just plugged in the NIT field this year - which is mostly recognizable schools from bigger conferences that missed the field of 64.

If that is the case, you'd be essentially creating a stronger field. We all know, for example, that teams like Illinois, Miss. St, and Va Tech are better than just about all of the #13-#16 "automatic bid" seeds. (1/4 of the field). What would happen is that you'd be adding 1/3 more teams to the field that are already better than 1/4 of the field in place.

On the surface, a 96-team field may seem diluted, but if you really look at it closely the total field quality would only increase. I am against expansion, but you can very very easily argue just on common sense alone that it makes for an even more competitive tournament with 96 teams.

People say going to 96 "waters the field down." I disagree. You win out of that bracket and you'll have earned it. I see some great matchups. I know we've discussed this and I'm in the VAST minority here, but I like it. More games. More chances for upsets. Tougher to win it all. I think it would be more March Madness. My prediction is that in 3 years no one will be pining for the "good old days" of 64. It will still be a great show. Again, I realize few agree with me, but it would be better basketball. You think you had fun last Thursday?? Open it up to 96! Then let the bullets fly!

if the networks complain about ratings now who the hell would watch san diego state vs oakland or old dominion vs. montana?

Warming to it a little bit

Gotta' admit, if this is a somewhat accurate model, though still opposed I'm much less so than I was a couple days ago. I still think the first round would be mostly garbage (teams that have no business being in the field as an at-large), and I still think expanding to 96 would screw the little guys even more (only 8 of 32 first-round byes are owned by schools outside the Big 6), but in all honesty the Round of 64 looks much more competitive when looking at potential matchups.

I agree it likely would be a more competitive tournament (once it gets to the Round of 64), but I think the "David vs. Goliath" element would mostly disappear with a 96-team field. That's the element of the NCAA Tournament this event CAN NOT afford to lose.

And the other and more important thing to me is, it would basically render the regular season meaningless. I don't want that to happen. If all the Gophers had to do to make the NCAA is play nobody in November & December (make no mistake, with expansion to 96 Big 6 nonconference schedules will get softer, not stronger) and then win 6 or 7 Big Ten games. ... that would be a friggin' joke.

I would hope this isn't the set up. The best bet would be go with the games first round of games and then take the highest remaining seed play the #1 seed. if a #24 wins they would play the #1 seed not the #8 seed and so on.

Though they would need to get rid of the current pods set up and each region would need to have all the games at one location. Highly unlikely they would do that.

I have been very much against expanding the tournament to 96, but when you see these matchups ... OMG! I'm liking it! It basically eliminates the NIT, but I've always felt those were quality teams and often big names having a SLIGHTLY off year.

I think I'm changing my opinion to favor expansion after seeing these mouth-watering potential matchups early in the tourney!

I think you guys are assuming too much into Palin's scenario. More likely they would work it out so two equivalent 16 seeds would play off and so on. Thus Gophers would play another 11 seed for the right to play Xavier.

The big players (marquee teams and TV) still want an easy first couple rounds.

scools12 said:

I would hope this isn't the set up. The best bet would be go with the games first round of games and then take the highest remaining seed play the #1 seed. if a #24 wins they would play the #1 seed not the #8 seed and so on.

Though they would need to get rid of the current pods set up and each region would need to have all the games at one location. Highly unlikely they would do that.

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I don't think we'll ever see any sort of reseeding in the tournament solely because of the havoc it would create with people filling out brackets. Lets be honest. The tournament owes a great deal of its popularity to the fact that every Tom, Dick and Harry fills out brackets for office pools. The boost in interest it gets is very similar to what the NFL gets from fantasy football.

tjgopher said:

Tougher to win it all.

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Isn't it plenty tough already?

Plinnius said:

Isn't it plenty tough already?

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Sure.