RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s way too early to say the train has left the station, but it might be time to stop worrying about whether the powers that be are going to expand the NCAA basketball tournament and start worrying about how to minimize any damage when they do.
The NCAA’s transformation committee last week floated the idea that as much as 25 percent of teams should qualify for NCAA championships, which isn’t particularly controversial in some sports but in basketball means about 90 teams. On Wednesday, at the ACC’s annual basketball media event, commissioner Jim Phillips said that expansion of the basketball tournament specifically was worth “taking a look at.”
“I’m not saying we should do it. But the timing seems to be right, it does,” Phillips told The News & Observer. “With the new constitution, the new governing structure, what we do know we want the NCAA to handle is the oversight of championships. They do a good job there. They do. I know they’ve had some hiccups. But we should look at it. We need to.”
