Bring Mid-Majors, Ads and Money

Posted in College Sports on April 2nd, 2011 by Ian Paregol

Although I typically root for the underdog, I can’t help but feel that VCU’s appearance in this year’s Final Four is rather ill-timed as it relates to the future of The Tournament.  Shaka Smart’s team is gritty and as one of the last four teams invited to the field of 68, they have shown what a streaky, mid-major team can do to a bracket during March Madness.  But VCU’s “Cinderella” status is not a result of expansion; rather, it is a consequence of the selection committees’ myopic vision that major conferences are deserving of an inordinate number of invitations to the dance.  Schools like Butler and VCU are pushed down the totem pole to 8 and 11 seeds and are deemed “upstarts” instead of recognized as legitimate programs capable of beating the squads from the major conferences like the Big East, Big Ten and SEC.   

So why did the Big East rack up 16% of the 2011 bids?   Read more »

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