Miller excited, looks forward to upcoming NCAA expansion
Eastern head men’s basketball coach Mike Miller is glad the National Invitational Tournament is not losing its integrity.
The National Invitational Tournament, a second to the NCAA Tournament, won’t face that problem as the NCAA announced Thursday that the field for its men’s basketball tournament will expand from 65 to 68 teams starting in 2011. The Division I Men’s Basketball Committee submitted the proposal.
Add to that a new, $10.8 billion broadcasting deal with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting, which will allow every game to be shown live for the first time.
Miller said a coach brought up that 96 teams in the tourney would have ruined the prowess of the NIT, but with the expansion Miller’s still excited.
“It’s given three more teams a chance to play,” Miller said. “I’m excited. I think it’s great. It’s a good thing.”
Miller said the use of 96 teams for the NCAA Tournament was discussed at a coaches’ meeting in Indianapolis, but the plan never went through.
Miller said this isn’t a big change, and said when he served on a committee it was hard to pick teams. He also isn’t sure what schools will receive the extra bids next season.
Beginning next year, first- and second-round games will air on CBS over-the-air affiliates, including CBS plus Turner’s TBS, TNT and truTV. All four networks will feature full national telecasts of each game, ending the regional coverage that has been a CBS staple for decades.
CBS and the Turner networks will split coverage of the regional semifinals, and CBS will continue to air the regional finals and the Final Four, including next year’s games at Reliant Stadium, through 2016. CBS and TBS will alternate the Final Four beginning in 2016.
The expansion to 68 teams, which will be submitted for approval to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors by next Thursday, means there will be a play-in game for each region as opposed to the single play-in game under the 65-team bracket.
“This is an important day for intercollegiate athletics and the 400,000 student-athletes who compete in NCAA sports,” interim NCAA president Jim Isch said in a press release. “This agreement will provide on average more than $740 million annually to our conferences and member schools.”
The men’s tournament last expanded in 2001, adding one team to the 64-team field that was set in 1985.
Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.
