As the NCAA tournament has ferociously kicked off, there have been quite a few analysts and coaches talking about an expansion from 64 to 128 teams. I think this is exactly what college basketball needs to do. So many people are constantly arguing about the bubble, who deserved to make the tournament and who didn't deserve to make the tournament.
Its great that the NCAA provides an automatic bid for the winner from each conference, it needs to stay that way. If teams like Siena, Drake, Belmont, etc. weren't given a chance to be in the tournament then we would never have those exciting upsets, that everyone loves to watch. The tournament just wouldn't be as exciting. But on the contrary who's not to say that a 24-8 Illinois State team should have made the tournament over a 18-13 Oregon team? What about 19-12 Arizona State who had some big wins? If we expanded the tournament we wouldn't have to deal with so many of these questions. We could run the tournament exactly the way it is today, but we could eliminate the play-in game and play the opening round on that Tuesday and Wednesday, where the higher seed could host a home game. This would still give the teams at least a day to prepare for the opening round game, as well as the round of 64.
The expansion of the NCAA tournament would only enhance NCAA basketball. With the increase in teams, that would allow more schools the opportunity to make the postseason. That is ultimately the goal of the NCAA. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next five years, but I would guess that as each year goes by more and more people will be supporting the expansion of the tournament.
