Purdue Coach Matt Painter Weighs in on Idea of NCAA Tournament Expansion
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One of the most beloved sporting events could potentially undergo a change. A decision regarding expansion for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is expected to come in the near future, with March Madness possibly growing from 68 teams to 72 or 76 teams. Among fans, expansion talk is one of the most egregious potential changes to the sport. But how do coaches feel about it?
Purdue coach Matt Painter doesn't want to completely shut down the idea without hearing an argument, though he believes that the current model is still the best for college basketball.
"I'd like to be in a room with the people who want (expansion), just to hear the why," Painter told Big Ten Network in a recent interview. "Then, how the sausage is made: How are you going to do it with the games? How are you going to break it down that first weekend? Are you going to have more starts on Tuesday and Wednesday like we do in Dayton? Things of that nature.
"You get to your opinion after listening to everybody else's. My knee-jerk reaction is, why mess with something that is working? That's how I feel. But I still want to listen ... I think it's at the right spot, but if it's better for college basketball, you have to stop and listen to others."
One of the biggest arguments for expansion is inclusivity for more teams ... as if that wasn't obvious. Although every team in college basketball has a chance to make the field when the season starts, it's one of the most exclusive tournaments in sports, simply by percentage.
Painter argues, though, that no matter what number the NCAA settles on, there will always be teams left on the outside trying to make a case.
"You're still going to have a line, no matter what you do," Painter said. "So, if you say, 'Hey, we're going to get in eight more schools,' well, you're still going to have three or four schools saying they should have gotten in."
Expanding the NCAA Tournament by four or eight teams wouldn't drastically change the format, nor would it change much in its exclusivity. But the event, as it stands, is one of the most fun in sports.
If it's not broken, why fix it?
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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