Pitt's Jeff Capel Favors NCAA Tournament Expansion
WASHINGTON, DC -- The only thing that has dominated the final weeks of college basketball's final weeks of the regular season more than talk about the NCAA Tournament bubble is how the NCAA Tournament might expand in coming years and, while some believe it would ruin the sanctity of the event, Pitt Panthers head coach Jeff Capel doesn't see it the same way.
Before the Panthers hit the road to Washington, D.C. for the ACC Tournament, Capel was asked if he's in favor of expanding the NCAA Tournament and he said he would be in favor of getting more teams in the big dance.
"I get some of the purists, that you don’t mess it up, it’s at 68, you don’t mess it up. I wonder if people felt that way when it was at 16," Capel said. "When it was at 16 and went to 32 it was probably a thing but it got better. When it was at 32, it went to 48 and it was better. When it went to 64, it got better. And when you went to 68 and you introduced the First Four, it still was really, really good and so I think it should be change, I think it should be more opportunity."
Numbers as high as the mid-90's have been floated but the general consensus is that any expansion would be modest - adding around eight to 10 teams to essentially add another small round like the First Four, which currently hosts eight teams for de facto play-in games at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
Pitt played in the First Four last year. Capel has played in three NCAA Tournaments, coached in seven as an assistant at Duke and four more as a head coach at VCU, Oklahoma and Pitt. He believes it's a special event and he doesn't see a downside in allowing more players and teams to experience it, as long as expansion comes with in reason.
"The NCAA Tournament is the greatest sporting event and I think if you give more young people opportunities to experience, like what’s bad about that?" Capel said. "I’ve never understood the argument about that because every time it’s expanded, it’s continued to get better. I’m not saying you double it, I’m not saying that, but I think it’s time to expand a little bit.”
Capel thinks this can be a win for everyone. The fans get more games, more teams and players get an opportunity to experience the postseason and the NCAA gets more revenue from it. And as Capel pointed out - the NCAA could probably use the extra cash.
“I’ve never seen anyone not want to make more money, especially the NCAA and especially with all the lawsuits they have against them," Capel said. "So I couldn’t imagine it not expanding at some point.”
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