NCAA Considered 16 Team Tourney

[MisterGopher]

As the fate of the 2020 Division I NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament danced on a balance for more than 24 hours earlier this week, the NCAA considered almost every possible alternative to saving its most prestigious event.

The one alternative that was most seriously discussed was a shrunken 16-team field of all at-large teams that would have played five days in a row at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Before outright cancellation, NCAA considered a condensed 16-team 2020 NCAA Tournament in Atlanta

A look behind the scenes at the crazy, frenzied 36 hours that led to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament

www.cbssports.com

 

[howeda7]

That would have been interesting. A shame they didn't give it a shot.

 

[obobo55]

Yeah, what they proposed would have been nuts. 4 games Thursday (1/16, 2/15, 3/14, 4/13), 4 games Friday (5/12, 6/11, 7/10, 8/9). 4 more Saturday matching winners from Thr & Fri games. FF on Sun and the championship on Monday. So if you were the 5th best team in the country, you have to play and win 4 games in 4 days?

 

[USAF]

Uh....this is a Gopher forum. Unless they were considering a ONE HUNDRED and sixteen team tournament, it's not relevant.

 

[cjbfbp]

That would have been interesting. A shame they didn't give it a shot.

It certainly would have been interesting and would have drawn tremendous viewer interest but, when everyone around you is cancelling sporting events, you don't want to be the one who has to answer questions about why your group alone is subjecting players, coaches, etc. to the risks.

 

[MplsGopher]

That would have been interesting. A shame they didn't give it a shot.

Would teams have showed up?? Duke, etc.

Would governors have allowed it, politically/PR ?

I don't think it was a lack of desire to "give it a shot" on Atlanta and TV's part. I think everyone else just said "dude, just no, thank you for trying, but everything is shut down for the next month, sorry"

 

[howeda7]

Yeah, what they proposed would have been nuts. 4 games Thursday (1/16, 2/15, 3/14, 4/13), 4 games Friday (5/12, 6/11, 7/10, 8/9). 4 more Saturday matching winners from Thr & Fri games. FF on Sun and the championship on Monday. So if you were the 5th best team in the country, you have to play and win 4 games in 4 days?

Go big or go home. It's not any different than the conference tournaments.

 

[howeda7]

Would teams have showed up?? Duke, etc.

Would governors have allowed it, politically/PR ?

I don't think it was a lack of desire to "give it a shot" on Atlanta and TV's part. I think everyone else just said "dude, just no, thank you for trying, but everything is shut down for the next month, sorry"

I get all that. I'm just saying that format and the timeline would have been fun.

 

[MplsGopher]

Yes it would've been great. Big Ten tourny style, except no "play in" games, just a good ol 16 bracket, shop til you drop, win and in you keep playing.

 

[obobo55]

I guess they just were thinking about keeping it in a short window for TV. My thought was that since you are only dealing with so few teams, space it out a bit. I'd play 8 games on the first day. No spectators, so you could play in same city different venues. Then off day Friday. 4 games Saturday. Off day on Sunday. Semis on Monday. Final on Wednesday. Everything wrapped in span of 7 days and you don't have a team dragging on the floor.

One of the reasons I haven't attended the conference tourney is I know by Sunday, whomever got through would be worn down. Watched some poor efforts by really good teams over the years.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Interesting idea, but it would have omitted the schools that March Madness relies on for its intrigue and excitement. There's no Patriot League champ to knock out a 3 seed and incite chaos.