Welcome to fantasy land. I think the NCAA should transition to a Hoosiers-style open tournament, in which every Division I team makes the tournament, regardless of record, transition status, or sanctions.
How does it work?
Round 1 consists of teams 155 (New Mexico) to 358 (IUPUI) playing to get us down to a round number of 256. I used the kenpom ratings, because they are most easily accessible and do what we want here- predict which team is the best. These games would be hosted on campus by the higher seeds. We ignore conferences, so we get some intra-conference matchups (#262 Louisiana-Monroe at #251 Georgia Southern, for example). Some matchups are completely random (when Albany figures out where California Baptist University is, they can let us know). Some are sad statements about the state of a program (the only Big East team to play in this round in the three years I've tracked it - 2022 Georgetown hosting Bucknell).
Are fans at say, Georgia, going to be really excited to host Binghamton in the opening round? Probably not. But for a number of teams, hosting an opening round game could be a big deal, and a sign of progress. If you're Western Illinois and you go on the road in Round 1 for two straight years then get to host Jackson State? That's pretty cool!
Round 2 has the rest of Division I join in. The top 128 seeded teams will host. Teams 129-154 received Round 1 byes but have to travel in Round 2. That's a tough break. We get some expected blowouts (Gonzaga hosting the winner of Tennessee Tech and Air Force). We get some 20 win mid-majors facing each other (Delaware @ Stephen F. Austin). We get some mediocre P5 schools hosting upset minded small schools (Wagner @ Ole Miss, North Dakota State @ Florida State). We get some sad P5 matchups (Mizzou @ Utah). And we get some big schools on the road at mid-majors (BC @ Montana State, Cal @ Utah Valley).
The winners of those games play at the higher remaining seed in Round 3. And after that, we are down to 64 and our normal neutral site tournament.
How does it work?
Round 1 consists of teams 155 (New Mexico) to 358 (IUPUI) playing to get us down to a round number of 256. I used the kenpom ratings, because they are most easily accessible and do what we want here- predict which team is the best. These games would be hosted on campus by the higher seeds. We ignore conferences, so we get some intra-conference matchups (#262 Louisiana-Monroe at #251 Georgia Southern, for example). Some matchups are completely random (when Albany figures out where California Baptist University is, they can let us know). Some are sad statements about the state of a program (the only Big East team to play in this round in the three years I've tracked it - 2022 Georgetown hosting Bucknell).
Are fans at say, Georgia, going to be really excited to host Binghamton in the opening round? Probably not. But for a number of teams, hosting an opening round game could be a big deal, and a sign of progress. If you're Western Illinois and you go on the road in Round 1 for two straight years then get to host Jackson State? That's pretty cool!
Round 2 has the rest of Division I join in. The top 128 seeded teams will host. Teams 129-154 received Round 1 byes but have to travel in Round 2. That's a tough break. We get some expected blowouts (Gonzaga hosting the winner of Tennessee Tech and Air Force). We get some 20 win mid-majors facing each other (Delaware @ Stephen F. Austin). We get some mediocre P5 schools hosting upset minded small schools (Wagner @ Ole Miss, North Dakota State @ Florida State). We get some sad P5 matchups (Mizzou @ Utah). And we get some big schools on the road at mid-majors (BC @ Montana State, Cal @ Utah Valley).
The winners of those games play at the higher remaining seed in Round 3. And after that, we are down to 64 and our normal neutral site tournament.
