# NCAA tourney structure **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 10, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249 "2010-11-10T23:57:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/1 "2010-11-10T23:57:53Z")
Why couldn’t they have just made the 4 extra teams 17 seeds? Oh Yeah, this is the NCAA! They NEVER make sense! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/2 "2010-11-11T01:21:04Z")
Because that would be painfully boring. No one gives a shit about watching IUPUI play LeHigh, let alone watching FOUR of those games. This way, we only have to be subjected to two 16/17 seed games. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/3 "2010-11-11T20:07:07Z")
Just double the field to 128 teams. One game later, back to 64. High seeds get a easy game and everybody gets in. Besides we get some great upsets that would add so much fun. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/4 "2010-11-11T20:56:25Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Just double the field to 128 teams. One game later, back to 64. High seeds get a easy game and everybody gets in. Besides we get some great upsets that would add so much fun. In that case, just go ahead and invite every team to the tournament. Every team gets a championship trophy, with each team having 12 MVPs and a pizza party at the end of the year. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/5 "2010-11-11T22:55:12Z")
Actually getting eliminated in the first game is not equivalent to getting a trophy and a pizza party. If the top teams are so good, they would also prove the lower teams are deserving of scorn. It would be an extra tourney game, give money to lower programs and prove the sports writers know what they are doing. It also might be fun to see a 1 get knocked off by a 122. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/6 "2010-11-11T23:06:26Z")
It’s pointless. The play-in #16-seed is currently 0-10 and #16 seeds are 0-104 all-time up to 2009. The record would seem to indicate there should be 5 _less_ teams in the tournament as opposed to adding more. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/7 "2010-11-11T23:12:48Z")
\ Harvard DID beat Stanford. (late 90’s) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/8 "2010-11-11T23:25:06Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > \ Harvard DID beat Stanford. (late 90’s) It’s not a nitpick if it’s not right. That wasn’t a #16 over a #1 upset. > [@](#): > > It’s pointless. The play-in #16-seed is currently 0-10 and #16 seeds are 0-104 all-time up to 2009. The record would seem to indicate there should be 5 less teams in the tournament as opposed to adding more. That’s why they’re not adding crappy automatic bids that get slotted in at #16 - they’re adding bubble teams that have a decent argument for being selected. That’s why the play-in games (or, at least, half of them) won’t be 16/17 games. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/9 "2010-11-11T23:58:03Z")
Munch-It happened in the Women’s Tourney. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/10 "2010-11-12T00:07:24Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > It’s pointless. The play-in #16-seed is currently 0-10 and #16 seeds are 0-104 all-time up to 2009. The record would seem to indicate there should be 5 _less_ teams in the tournament as opposed to adding more. In Michigan all the high school football and basketball teams get in the state tourney. It has not been a big deal. Bad teams get wiped out quickly and a team that would have been pissed off at just missing or thinking it was mistreated has no argument. It has a calming effect. It has the added bonus of programs across the state playing teams they would never face. Nobody bitches about it. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/11 "2010-11-12T00:15:13Z")
I hear you. But ultimately that’s missing the the point. The point of the NCAA tournament is to find and crown the single best team in the nation for the year. Whether or not it succeeds in that endeavor is another debate entirely, but that is the intended outcome of the event. If you want to see Michigan State play NC Winston-Salem that’s what early season non-conference games are for. Fact is, and the record clearly and definitively shows, that such teams come tourney time have absolutely no chance whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/12 "2010-11-12T04:41:23Z")
Then there is no harm. But it would not always be that way. Fifteens have knocked off 2s. I bet there would be some highly ranked teams knocked off. Then picture how much fun sports reporting and sports talk would be. Basketball requires 2 real good players and 3 players that don’t do something stupid. If they make some lucky shots ,they can win. ---
**Author:** ![czarcaztic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@czarcaztic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/czarcaztic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/13 "2010-11-15T19:55:50Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > In that case, just go ahead and invite every team to the tournament. Every team gets a championship trophy, with each team having 12 MVPs and a pizza party at the end of the year. This! Your sarcasm is not lost on me, Ponch! ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncaa-tourney-structure/560249/14 "2010-11-15T21:39:16Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I hear you. But ultimately that’s missing the the point. The point of the NCAA tournament is to find and crown the single best team in the nation for the year. No. The _only_ point of the NCAA tournament is to give 65 teams a chance of winning that tournament.