On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN reporter Pete Thamel reported that the NCAA had initiated steps to expand the college basketball NCAA Tournament from 68 teams to 76 teams. Only a day after that, multiple Missouri athletics head coaches spoke at the university’s Zou to You event in St. Louis, featuring availabilities with men’s basketball head coach Dennis Gates, women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper and athletic director Laird Veatch.
The topic of NCAA Tournament expansion has been a frequent one over the last few months. Now, it’s a reality of sorts and teams and conferences will have to adjust properly. It’s a widespread, controversial topic, but Dennis Gates has confidence that it’s the right move for both the players and teams.
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“Everybody scoffed at me when I’ve said this in the past. It will continue to grow,” Gates told reporters on Wednesday. “I think it’s a small step. Whenever you have an institutional count of 280 to 64 spots, and then now you grew probably 80 plus institutions, and you only increased by four. It just lets you know how far behind we actually are.”
For Harper as a coach of a women’s team, more teams in the tournament could mean more viewership for the teams that consequently make the new expanded tournament model. If Harper and the Tigers improve on this past season, this new model could certainly benefit them.
“More eyes on our sport. That’s what it is,” Harper said. “I think there’s a huge draw for more games in the tournament and, obviously, more games in the tournament means more teams in the tournament. So, hopefully (that’s) great for women’s basketball.”
According to Veatch, expanding the tournament will only let in more talented basketball teams. In the SEC, Veatch believes that the teams toward the bottom of the conference, or those who aren’t making March Madness, should have their chance at advancing into the postseason.
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“As the competition at conferences like the SEC gets so dramatic and that talent level gets so high, we got to provide opportunities for teams like that to be involved,” Veatch said. “If it can continue to add to it, then great, there’s going to be a limit. But I’m excited that we’re looking at taking that step.:
There is also a Name, Image and Likeness side to this. More games that are played increase the number of ways that players can capitalize on that, which would be one benefit of more tournament games.
“The other part of it is the business model,” Gates said. “(The) business model is what generates funds as we grow in the NIL space. So I think it’s important to also increase opportunities for our student athletes so they can monetize as much as they can.”
Gates also believes that changes may need to come to the conference portion of his team’s schedule. The SEC schedule butts up right next to the beginning of the SEC Tournament, which also ends the weekend before the start of the NCAA Tournament.
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If more games are coming to March Madness, more time in between the start and end of each part of the season may be neccesary to ensure player health, safety and fatigue.
“I think we need to move the SEC conference regular season up to give us a gap and time to prepare for the SEC tournament, or even give us a time and a gap to not go right into the NCAA,” Gates said. “So, regardless, it’s a long season, it’s a grueling season, and you know, obsession for basketball is probably the most important thing that gets you through the dog days, and that’s what we talk about. But as players, you want to stay healthy. If your team is healthy, your team has a chance to continue to move forward and get better.”
Nothing is certain about the expansion of the tournament and the NCAA is only taking preliminary steps toward increasing the number of teams that make it in. The discourse surrounding it and what coaches and administrators have to say should only increase until a decision is finalized.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/missouri as Mizzou Head Coaches, Athletic Director Speak on NCAA Tournament Expansion.
