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Improving College Basketball
Posted on: December 16, 2021 at 23:45:16 CT
TigerinKansas MU
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One simple change I wish college basketball would make is completing lifting all or most restrictions on scheduling, especially around in-season tournaments.
Right now, you can play in 31 games - 28 plus 3 or 4 in a MTE Event (tournament) or 29 plus 2 in a MTE. For instance, this year Mizzou plays 18 conference games, plus two in a MTE, plus 11 non-cons: Cent Michigan, UMKC, NIU, WSU, Liberty, EIU, PQ, Kansas, Utah, Illinois, and Iowa State.
However, you can only play in a particular MTE once every four years. So, for instance, we play in the Hall of Fame Classic in KC once every four years (2011, 2015, 2019, and presumably 2023.) Also, only one team per conference can be in such an MTE.
One note is that a tournament doesn't have to be an "exempt" MTE, where the games within it only count as one. So, there is nothing stopping more tournaments, but each game counts as a separate game and against your other non-con games. So you don't see many of those.
I'd personally like to see the rules loosened and have more of an emphasis on bracketed early season tournaments, which are exciting. I'd do the following:
- Allow teams to play up to 9 games in MTE events with an overall cap at 35 games (teams used to play this many until they put a cap many years ago), as long as the tournaments are "bracketed" rather than round-robins. That would allow teams to play in a 4-team event, an 8-team event, and a 16-team event. Basically, constant bracketology throughout the season. The tournaments would be consolation-style brackets where everyone plays the same number of games.
- Allow multiple teams from a conference to play in a tournament. More on that in a minute.
- Allow teams to play in the same events every year.
- The Selection Committee for the NCAA Tournament would place an emphasis on how teams finish in early season tournaments. Maybe have a "Tournament Point" system where you get points for the higher you finish. So, in an 8-team tournament, the winner could get 15 points, second place 12, third place 10, fourth and fifth 8, sixth and seventh 3, last place 1.
Some ideas of where this could lead:
- A "Thanksgiving wave" (we already have this) of tournaments like the Maui Classic, etc; a "Christmas wave" of more locally-focused tournaments.; A smaller tournament in between somewhere.
- Have an "Old Big 8 Tournament" that is played between Christmas and New Year's, featuring the old Big 8. Of those, 2 are in the SEC, 2 in the Big Ten, 1 in the Pac 12, and 4 in the Big 12. Run it as a consolation style bracket from the 27-29th.
- Many states have a lot of teams in their state which could be the basis of driving attendance and fan interest earlier in the season with minimal travel costs. Iowa could host a tournament involving Iowa, Iowa State, Drake, and Northern Iowa. Oklahoma could do the same with OU, OK State, Tulsa, and Oral Roberts. Wyoming and Colorado could combine to host Colorado, Colorado State, Wyoming, and Northern Colorado. I could go on and on with examples.
- Maybe Bowl Games could host tournaments where a ticket to the bowl gets you to the tournament, as well, or even vice versa. Maybe the Orange or Citrus Bowl hosts a tournament involving Miami, Florida, UCF, and USF. Music City Bowl could host an annual tournament involving Vandy, MTSU, Western Kentucky and Louisville. You get the idea.
- You could have tournaments like the old NIT where you played two on campus sites and then two at a neutral site. Losers in the "host site" games could also play each other at campus sites.
- Schools could host their own four-team bracketed tournaments. Some schools host round-robin MTEs - would be fun to have actual mini-brackets to follow, which might help with attendance especially if emphasizing them in the Selection Committee meant teams wanted to schedule good teams. Maybe Mizzou Arena could host a tournament involving Missouri, Creighton, Wichita State, and Iowa State. I bet that draws a crowd.
- Teams would have schedules that look like this:
16-18 game conference schedules
9 games in tournaments
8-10 home/away traditional games
All in all, I think that would make college basketball far more compelling than the current set up, where no one really cares until February.
Right now, you can play in 31 games - 28 plus 3 or 4 in a MTE Event (tournament) or 29 plus 2 in a MTE. For instance, this year Mizzou plays 18 conference games, plus two in a MTE, plus 11 non-cons: Cent Michigan, UMKC, NIU, WSU, Liberty, EIU, PQ, Kansas, Utah, Illinois, and Iowa State.
However, you can only play in a particular MTE once every four years. So, for instance, we play in the Hall of Fame Classic in KC once every four years (2011, 2015, 2019, and presumably 2023.) Also, only one team per conference can be in such an MTE.
One note is that a tournament doesn't have to be an "exempt" MTE, where the games within it only count as one. So, there is nothing stopping more tournaments, but each game counts as a separate game and against your other non-con games. So you don't see many of those.
I'd personally like to see the rules loosened and have more of an emphasis on bracketed early season tournaments, which are exciting. I'd do the following:
- Allow teams to play up to 9 games in MTE events with an overall cap at 35 games (teams used to play this many until they put a cap many years ago), as long as the tournaments are "bracketed" rather than round-robins. That would allow teams to play in a 4-team event, an 8-team event, and a 16-team event. Basically, constant bracketology throughout the season. The tournaments would be consolation-style brackets where everyone plays the same number of games.
- Allow multiple teams from a conference to play in a tournament. More on that in a minute.
- Allow teams to play in the same events every year.
- The Selection Committee for the NCAA Tournament would place an emphasis on how teams finish in early season tournaments. Maybe have a "Tournament Point" system where you get points for the higher you finish. So, in an 8-team tournament, the winner could get 15 points, second place 12, third place 10, fourth and fifth 8, sixth and seventh 3, last place 1.
Some ideas of where this could lead:
- A "Thanksgiving wave" (we already have this) of tournaments like the Maui Classic, etc; a "Christmas wave" of more locally-focused tournaments.; A smaller tournament in between somewhere.
- Have an "Old Big 8 Tournament" that is played between Christmas and New Year's, featuring the old Big 8. Of those, 2 are in the SEC, 2 in the Big Ten, 1 in the Pac 12, and 4 in the Big 12. Run it as a consolation style bracket from the 27-29th.
- Many states have a lot of teams in their state which could be the basis of driving attendance and fan interest earlier in the season with minimal travel costs. Iowa could host a tournament involving Iowa, Iowa State, Drake, and Northern Iowa. Oklahoma could do the same with OU, OK State, Tulsa, and Oral Roberts. Wyoming and Colorado could combine to host Colorado, Colorado State, Wyoming, and Northern Colorado. I could go on and on with examples.
- Maybe Bowl Games could host tournaments where a ticket to the bowl gets you to the tournament, as well, or even vice versa. Maybe the Orange or Citrus Bowl hosts a tournament involving Miami, Florida, UCF, and USF. Music City Bowl could host an annual tournament involving Vandy, MTSU, Western Kentucky and Louisville. You get the idea.
- You could have tournaments like the old NIT where you played two on campus sites and then two at a neutral site. Losers in the "host site" games could also play each other at campus sites.
- Schools could host their own four-team bracketed tournaments. Some schools host round-robin MTEs - would be fun to have actual mini-brackets to follow, which might help with attendance especially if emphasizing them in the Selection Committee meant teams wanted to schedule good teams. Maybe Mizzou Arena could host a tournament involving Missouri, Creighton, Wichita State, and Iowa State. I bet that draws a crowd.
- Teams would have schedules that look like this:
16-18 game conference schedules
9 games in tournaments
8-10 home/away traditional games
All in all, I think that would make college basketball far more compelling than the current set up, where no one really cares until February.
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Improving College Basketball - TigerinKansas MU - 12/16 23:45:16