Playing Their Way In

Tonight was the "opening round" game of the NCAA tournament, more commonly known as the play-in game. Some call it the pigtail game. This is the matchup between what the selection committee sees as the 64th and 65th rated teams in the tournament. Niagara earned the right to travel to Chicago to play #1 seed Kansas on Friday.

This incarnation of the opening round game began in 2001, after the newly formed Mountain West Conference received its automatic bid. The tournament committee did not want to remove one of the 34 at-large bids to accomodate the MWC. So, they created the opening round, and placed the game in Dayton, Ohio, where it has remained. The two lowest-rated qualifiers, or two chosen low-rated qualifiers, play for a chance to play a #1 seed later in the week.

For the last five years in a row, one of the participants has come from either the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference or the Southwestern Athletic Conference, the two Division I conferences made up of HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges & Universities). The committee has made an effort to not match up the two leagues in the Tuesday night play-in game. I think it would be a public relations disaster if two HBCUs played in the only opening round game. This year, Jackson State of the SWAC and Florida A&M of the MEAC were the lowest-ranked teams in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). The NCAA chose to let JSU skip the play-in game. However, we are finding that the opening round game penalizes low-budget programs, as it is a cheap imitation of the real 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

The cries are coming even louder, from coaches of major programs, to expand the field. 64 teams is a really good number, but we've passed that now. 96 is too many, as a complete extra round would be a logistical nightmare. Which leaves us the reasonable numbers of 68 and 72.

A 68-team field would result in four opening-round games, giving some legitimacy to this round, while opening three more spots in the field. In a 68-team tournament, Drexel, Syracuse, and Kansas State most likely make the field. In addition, each #1 seed would play a winner from the opening round. There could be two doubleheaders, in two medium-sized to small arenas, preferably close to a major airport yet able to draw a crowd. This year's games would include: Weber State vs. Florida A&M, Belmont vs. Niagara, North Texas vs. Jackson State, and Central Connecticut vs. Eastern Kentucky. This is the best and most reasonable option for expanding the field.

A 72-team field would require doubleheaders in two more locations in the opening round, or two locations with all-day sessions, similar to the first round of the tournament. It would also add seven more at-large spots to the field. For example, Drexel, Syracuse, Kansas State, Air Force, Bradley, Florida State, and Missouri State would most likely make the tournament under this arrangement. A good number of automatic qualifiers from the smaller conferences would be playing on Tuesday under this arrangement, as there would be eight opening round games, for the right to play #1 and #2 seeds later in the week.

The opening round as it is currently constituted is a joke. I think three more opening round games would be ok, especially as it would add three more at-large bids. Anything more than that further dilutes the quality of the tournament.