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ACC Coaches Propose "All-Inclusive" 2021 NCAA Tournament

The 15 ACC coaches unanimously proposed including all 346 eligible teams in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Isaac Schade|
ACC Coaches Propose "All-Inclusive" 2021 NCAA Tournament
ACC Coaches Propose "All-Inclusive" 2021 NCAA Tournament

On Wednesday, the 15 ACC men’s basketball coaches announced a unanimous proposition to expand the 2021 NCAA Tournament field.

What kind of expansion are we talking about here?

This is not your run-of-the-mill expansion to 96 or 128 teams that we’ve heard bandied about the past several years by coaches like Jim Boeheim (96 teams) or Mike Krzyzewski (128 teams). This proposal calls for an expansion to include every eligible team in Division I.

In a similar, but less widespread move, Major League Baseball decided to increase their playoff format for the 2020 season to help make up for the loss of some of the season and to mitigate results caused by relatively small sample sizes.

According to the coaches, there are three important factors to consider as part of such an all-inclusive proposal:

1. Player health and safety
2. Incentivize college basketball
3. Celebrate the game of college basketball

Division I currently has 357 teams, 346 of which are eligible for the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Given basic bracket math the standard 64-team bracket would expand to 128 teams (not big enough), then 256 (still not enough), then 512 (way too big). With 256 and 512 being the appropriate bracket sizes on either side of 346, there are essentially two different ways of looking at a potential bracket.

If you call it a “256-team bracket” the committee would place the first 166 teams into the bracket. This leaves 90 “play-in” slots for the remaining 180 teams to battle over. Sounds like Dayton is going to be busy!

If the bracket is termed a “512-team bracket” the committee would place all 346 teams into the bracket. This would leave 166 empty slots, meaning that 166 teams would earn a first-round bye.

Both options are essentially the same thing; it’s really just semantics between a “256-team bracket” or a “512-team bracket”.

Regardless of the bracketing option, the logistics would be an absolute nightmare.

Here are a few of them:

  • Seeding. Enough said.
  • How do you determine which 166 teams garner first-round byes?
  • Do you keep the host sites the same? Do you add new host sites?
  • How long does the Tournament last? Do you spread it out across more weekends? Do you keep it the same length but play more frequently?
  • Do you put teams in a bubble or pod somewhere like Disney? Do you use multiple sites? Do you try to put everyone in one location?
  • How often do you test for COVID-19?
  • What happens if there’s an outbreak? Do you postpone games? Do you disqualify teams?

Honestly, we don’t yet know what the season will look like. Will teams play a non-conference schedule? Will teams play a full conference schedule? Will teams opt out? Or the biggest question of all: will there even be a season?

Regardless of what eventually happens with the NCAA Tournament, here’s to hoping we have a 2020-21 college basketball season.

What follows are the social media statements from each ACC school / coach that commented:

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Isaac Schade
ISAAC SCHADE

I grew up in Atlanta knowing that I was going to be the next Maddux or Glavine or Chipper. Unfortunately, I never grew six feet tall, ran 4.4 in the 40-yard dash, threw 90 m.p.h. on the radar gun, or hit 50 home runs. So I had to find a different way to dive head first into sports - writing about it. My favorite all-time sports moment? 1992. NLCS. Game 7. Sid Bream. Look it up. Worst sports moment ever? Two words: Kris. Jenkins. I live in the bustling metropolis of Webb City, MO, where ministry is my full-time job. I spend my free time with my wife, Maggie, and my two children, Pax & Poppy.

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