Photo courtesy NCAA.com
NORMAL, Ill. – The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rejected last week’s proposal that every team competes in the annual men’s basketball tournament.
A number of ACC men’s basketball coaches voted on Wednesday to propose that all 346 Division I men’s basketball teams will play in March Madness. However, the NCAA said on Thursday that they aren’t looking to expand.
“Every college basketball team’s goal is to play in the NCAA tournament because everyone loves March Madness,” said NCAA Senior Vice President Dan Gavitt. “Certainly we missed it this year and can’t wait for 2021. While all who care about the game are entitled to their opinion, and we’ll always listen respectfully, at this time we are not working on any contingency plan that involves expanding the tournament field.”
ISU men’s basketball Head Coach Dan Muller said it’s a neat idea but prefers the current format.
“I think earning your way in and how good your conference tournament is certainly critical to the success of basketball,” said Coach Muller.
The last time the Redbirds played in the NCAA Tournament was in 1998 when they fell to #4 Arizona in the Second Round.
While the 2020-2021 NCAA men’s college basketball season is up in the air, Coach Muller said he’s confident they will have a season, regardless if there are fans in attendance or not.
“I’m hoping that when that conference season comes January/February that we do have some sorts of fans in the building because I know how important that is to our fans and to our players,” said Coach Muller. “But if not, we’re gonna go out there and try to win a bunch of games anyway.”