NCAA Basketball: Pros and cons of ACC’s “All Inclusive” tournament idea

Pros of the “All Inclusive” NCAA Tournament

While the proposal from the NCAA sounds crazy, it isn’t that crazy to think about, sure it would be a logistical nightmare as to how to figure out how to do it. However, the proposal was made in good faith and made sense. There are a lot of good things to digest with it.

Money

Money is a universal language and when it exchanges hands people watch and when it is talked about people listen. If the NCAA were to capitalize on this opportunity, they would have a chance to recoup some of the losses from last season and maximize their profits. TV channels would be lining up at a chance to broadcast the tournament featuring all of the eligible teams. The potential revenue alone should perk up the ears of the NCAA.

The small schools or the schools looking for an NCAA tournament appearance and win are going to relish this opportunity to make their money as well. Think of the branding opportunities for all these schools. The schools can think of this as a huge marketing opportunity and a chance to sell merchandise that they otherwise would not have. NCAA Tournament merchandise is not something that fans can get every single year and it is usually coveted when it is available.

Exposure

Every team should love this aspect of the proposition by the ACC. The conference had their hearts in the right place here. Exposure is something that every team that isn’t a blue blood or a member of a power conference so desperately wants and needs. With every single team making the NCAA tournament every team could guarantee that they will at least have one game on TV and that game is going to be seen by millions.

Every mid-major school, especially the small schools, are starving for attention and they drastically want a game on TV especially on a major network. If the tournament were to include every team the likely hood of a smaller mid-major and a bigger mid-major getting together is likely and that would be a great chance for many of those schools to improve their tournament resume and for some, it could be a great chance to get their first tournament win ever. That would be a huge deal and is something the players will never forget and the fans will never let them forget.

Support

As a note, the NCAA does not support this decision as they announced they have no plans to expand the tournament in the near future and especially not just for one year. The support has come from all of the ACC coaches which is understandable. There have also been a handful of other coaches who have supported this movement.

As everyone knows the coaching fraternity is a tight-knit community and they all look out for each other, the same in this instance. This would likely have the support of most of the players, however, to date, none of them have spoken out either for or against it.

The media and fans have had mixed opinions with this proposal by the ACC. Part of me wonders how things would change if their team they cover, or support would be positively or negatively affected by the ruling.