Conferences should eliminate the conference tournaments. Crown conference champions based on regular season results. If needed have a playoff game to break a tie (like the IVY League). If more than 2 teams tie, then use other tie breakers such as overall record to determine who plays in the playoff game. Each conference still gets their auto bid and the regular season champs get rewarded.
Move the NIT to the beginning of the season and expand it to 32 teams. Each conference gets 1 team in it determined by either a committee or some other method. Make it so it is not a 1 and done, have consolation games so teams get multiple games during the weeks it will take to complete the tourney. Also to give it some importance, the champion would get an automatic bid into the NCAA Tourney, along as they have at least a .500 record come the end of the regular season.
Expand the NCAA Tourney to include the 32 teams that would normally go to the post season NIT. Give the top 32 teams a first round bye. The other 64 teams are paired up to play the first round "play in games".
This would fix a few things if these changes would be made.
1.) It would make the regular season conference champions important again. Who cares if you can win 1 game, how about the other 18 games you played through out conference play? I never thought it was fair for a regular season champion, to lose one game in a conference tourney and not be able to go to the NCAA tourney. Like we have seen in the smaller conferences every year.
2.) It would make the NIT a relevant tournament again, by moving it to the beginning of the season and not having to worry about it trying to compete with the NCAA tournament for air time on TV.
3.) It would make the only Tournament any cares about at the end of the season bigger and better. Right now no one cares about the NIT or the other smaller tournaments, unless you have a team playing in it. No one really watches the play in games for the NCAA Tournament at this point, however if you make it so the bottom 64 teams have to play in the Opening Round, that would not only draw more attention, but you would reward the top 32 teams by giving them a bye.
Thoughts?
Move the NIT to the beginning of the season and expand it to 32 teams. Each conference gets 1 team in it determined by either a committee or some other method. Make it so it is not a 1 and done, have consolation games so teams get multiple games during the weeks it will take to complete the tourney. Also to give it some importance, the champion would get an automatic bid into the NCAA Tourney, along as they have at least a .500 record come the end of the regular season.
Expand the NCAA Tourney to include the 32 teams that would normally go to the post season NIT. Give the top 32 teams a first round bye. The other 64 teams are paired up to play the first round "play in games".
This would fix a few things if these changes would be made.
1.) It would make the regular season conference champions important again. Who cares if you can win 1 game, how about the other 18 games you played through out conference play? I never thought it was fair for a regular season champion, to lose one game in a conference tourney and not be able to go to the NCAA tourney. Like we have seen in the smaller conferences every year.
2.) It would make the NIT a relevant tournament again, by moving it to the beginning of the season and not having to worry about it trying to compete with the NCAA tournament for air time on TV.
3.) It would make the only Tournament any cares about at the end of the season bigger and better. Right now no one cares about the NIT or the other smaller tournaments, unless you have a team playing in it. No one really watches the play in games for the NCAA Tournament at this point, however if you make it so the bottom 64 teams have to play in the Opening Round, that would not only draw more attention, but you would reward the top 32 teams by giving them a bye.
Thoughts?
