March Madness--Why start with 65 teams? Why not 64?

[Lillith_Fair]

The explanation I got from my husband was unsatisfactory.

[Outpits]

@Lillith Fair

The explanation I got from my husband was unsatisfactory.

I doubt this will be satisfactory either, but here goes. A few years back the NCAA picked 34 at large teams (teams that did not win their conference) to go with 30 automatic qualifiers (teams that did win their conference). Then, an additional conference was founded by the division of one conference into two new ones (I think it was a split rather than an amalgammation of independent schools). Anyway, faced with the new conference the NCAA could do one of two things:

(i) 33 at large teams with 31 automatic qualifiers or
(ii) 34 at large teams with 31 automatic qualifiers.

Obviously, the second is the one they chose and they gave the policy statement that upon creation of new conferences, they would add to the number of teams in the tourney, keeping the 34 at large teams.

That’s my recollection anyway.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Lillith Fair

The explanation I got from my husband was unsatisfactory.

Wiki’s explanation is pretty good:

The game was first played in 2001, when the Mountain West Conference, which had split from the Western Athletic Conference in 1999, received an automatic bid for the first time. Under NCAA rules, a new conference must serve a two-year probationary period before receiving an automatic bid to the tournament. Once the Mountain West Conference received its own bid (the WAC retained its bid), the number of teams in the field increased from 64 to 65, requiring one team to be eliminated before the tournament entered its traditional 64-team bracket format. The NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Championship accommodated this change by eliminating an at-large bid, decreasing from 34 to 33, rather than adopting the opening round game.

Although analysts’ initial reactions to the concept were skeptical, the first game, played on March 13, 2001, was a success, and few complaints have been heard since. One reason for these positive comments is the fact that the game is played on a Tuesday night, during which no other games are played (the first round of the tournament starts the following Thursday). Thus, the opening round game assumes a greater prominence than most first-round games, both to the viewing public and to scouts. Recently, Syracuse University coach Jim Boeheim has advocated for an expansion of the tournament from 65 to 76 teams, which would include 4 opening round games for all of the 16th and possibly opening round games for the 15th seeded teams too. [1] The expansion of play in games faces logistical challenges and lukewarm acceptance from NCAA President Myles Brand and the corporate and media partners of the NCAA.

So basically, it was created to take care of an extraneous bid created by the inclusion of the MWAC, and kept because it was good for TV.