While University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball coach John Shulman was prepping for an NCAA tournament first-round date against Connecticut last March, his wife and two older sons were filling out brackets.
Projecting the 65-team field has become an annual challenge at the Shulman house, but penciling in the winners could become a lot more tiring. Sensing the potential to attain more revenue from its three-week event known as “March Madness,” the NCAA is debating whether to expand its tournament to as many as 96 teams.
“You would have to take two weeks of vacation just to fill one of those brackets out,” Shulman said.
SportsBusiness Journal reported this month that the NCAA may opt out of its 11-year, $6 billion contract with CBS after the upcoming Final Four to expand and ultimately lure a new 14-year media deal. CBS and Turner Sports have discussed a joint bid for future tournament rights, according to the report, which added that ESPN and Fox also may bid.
The NCAA has until Aug. 31 to decide whether to keep its current deal with CBS, make a new deal with CBS or another network or create a deal that would split rights to the tournament. A smaller proposal also being discussed involves the addition of three more play-in games, which would make it a 68-team field.