NCAA Men's Tournament 2026

[ndfanatic78]

How can we take something that everyone likes and ruin it?

NCAA: Hold My Beer.

Serious question: How is any of this the NCAA’s fault? Every time they have tried to uphold the legacy system they have lost the court case.

 

[Blazers46]

It’s become pick up basketball every year with the portal, and now it’s becoming like travel ball where it’s becoming whatever teams wants to sign up for the tournament can.

How far are we from a scenario where a Gonzaga loses in the first round and their star PG enters the portal and signs with Duke just in time for the sweet 16?

 

[Dale]

Serious question: How is any of this the NCAA’s fault? Every time they have tried to uphold the legacy system they have lost the court case.

It’s not the NCAAs job to uphold amateurism. It’s their job to govern college sports, however that evolves. They lose in court because they did basically nothing for 40 years to proactively govern the sport and the whole thing eventually burst.

 

[Dale]

Wednesday will be a mess of awful games. Most casuals will not watch. The ratings will still be fine because of gambling and nothing else is on TNT on a Wednesday night. Some play in team will make a run. Those two things will justify the change. Rinse, repeat.

 

[ACamp1900]

How can we take something that everyone likes and ruin it?

NCAA: Hold My Beer.

Wait until you see what football becomes in 15 years....

 

[Irish#1]

Is adding 8 more teams that have no chance at winning really increasing revenue that much?

I don't think it's about increasing revenue, it's about power conferences being miffed that their bubble teams are being left out and trying to exert some control.

AB2 nailed it. Per the article, they had to work with the networks on this, but the additional revenue isn't very much.

 

[Blazers46]

Wait until you see what football becomes in 15 years....

We will be talking about CJ Carr’s retirement from football and where ND turns because their star QB just retired and left Notre Dame after 17 great seasons and 10 Super Bowl rings.

 

[ndfanatic78]

It’s not the NCAAs job to uphold amateurism. It’s their job to govern college sports, however that evolves. They lose in court because they did basically nothing for 40 years to proactively govern the sport and the whole thing eventually burst.

Again I ask what were they supposed to do? They function at the will of the universities that fall under it. The Presidents and Athletic directors didn’t want the system to change therefore the NCAA didn’t do anything until the court cases started to over rule the “ amateurism” that collegiate sports were built upon. Those same presidents are still to this day trying to figure out how to reinstate that “amateurism” to their benefit. So again what is the NCAA supposed to do. Its whole point in being created was to rule over the “amateurism” and try to prevent it from being abolished.

 

[Dale]

Again I ask what were they supposed to do?

You don’t think a single rule change between like 1985 and 2018 could have been passed by the NCAA?

You make your employees paid, like every other billion dollar sport or industry in the world. That would be a start.

 

[Blazers46]

Ed Obannon’s fault.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Again I ask what were they supposed to do? They function at the will of the universities that fall under it. The Presidents and Athletic directors didn’t want the system to change therefore the NCAA didn’t do anything until the court cases started to over rule the “ amateurism” that collegiate sports were built upon. Those same presidents are still to this day trying to figure out how to reinstate that “amateurism” to their benefit. So again what is the NCAA supposed to do. Its whole point in being created was to rule over the “amateurism” and try to prevent it from being abolished.

Something more than nothing. Like 0+1. Being proactive can go a long way versus being reactive. See Major League Baseball. Reactive. They create their own issues.

I think the biggest failure of the NCAA stems from their fear of punishing programs for wrongdoing because of SMU getting the Death Penalty. It took SMU decades to recover to respectability. It took them 25 years just go get back to a bowl. I am convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the ramifications of giving SMU the death penalty scared the NCAA from enforcing what little rules and regulations they had to begin with.

Miami, FSU, USC, UNC, Penn State, etc. all got a slap on the wrist at most for violations.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I don't think it's about increasing revenue, it's about power conferences being miffed that their bubble teams are being left out and trying to exert some control.

Yes. So we will get to see Oklahoma, losers of 9 straight games in January and February, battle to get into the tournament because they're Oklahoma of the SEC. Or Auburn, who lost nine of their last 12 and finished one game over .500, of same SEC will get a chance to get into the field of 64. If that's even really a thing anymore.

Gambling wins. The power conferences win. Apart from that, with all of the streaming services and everything else available to the general public...nobody is going to care about these games. Dudes are going to take Thursday and Friday off of work when the tournament starts because that is how most sports fans' brains are wired. Nobody wants to be bothered with 76 teams.

And guess what? ESPN will add HOURS of useless junk food programming about teams 77-80 as the "first four out" like they already do now.

 

[ndfanatic78]

You don’t think a single rule change between like 1985 and 2018 could have been passed by the NCAA?

You make your employees paid, like every other billion dollar sport or industry in the world. That would be a start.

I fully agree. I don’t think it was the NCAA that was at fault. I think it was the university presidents, boards, and ADs. I think the NCAA is the scape goat. There was no rule the NCAA could have passed on paying athletes that the universities would have agreed to.

 

[ndfanatic78]

Something more than nothing. Like 0+1. Being proactive can go a long way versus being reactive. See Major League Baseball. Reactive. They create their own issues.

I think the biggest failure of the NCAA stems from their fear of punishing programs for wrongdoing because of SMU getting the Death Penalty. It took SMU decades to recover to respectability. It took them 25 years just go get back to a bowl. I am convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the ramifications of giving SMU the death penalty scared the NCAA from enforcing what little rules and regulations they had to begin with.

Miami, FSU, USC, UNC, Penn State, etc. all got a slap on the wrist at most for violations.

USC got some pretty harsh penalties. It cost Kiffykins his job, but for the most part agree I also think and had been my whole point that it was more the universities which draw the biggest value that were really in control and the NCAA was just their front man. That the NCAA knew if they came down hard on let’s just say any of the SEC teams the SEC would have said screw you we are taking our ball and leaving.

 

[KMac151993]

USC got some pretty harsh penalties. It cost Kiffykins his job, but for the most part agree I also think and had been my whole point that it was more the universities which draw the biggest value that were really in control and the NCAA was just their front man. That the NCAA knew if they came down hard on let’s just say any of the SEC teams the SEC would have said screw you we are taking our ball and leaving.

But that is using the current landscape as the judge. Go back to the 90's and the SEC was much more regional than it is now as were all conferences. Once the land of TV contracts and mass availability/consumption entered it was over for the NCAA, because then - you are right - it was totally out of their control.