BREAKING: Greg Sankey Pushes for NCAA Tournament Expansion, Citing SEC Men’s Hoops Dominance…

Greg Sankey Pushes for NCAA Tournament Expansion, Citing SEC Men’s Hoops Dominance

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is advocating for an expansion of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, citing the growing strength of power conferences like the SEC. Sankey believes that the current 68-team format may not accurately represent the competitiveness of top teams, particularly those from power conferences ¹.

Sankey’s push for expansion is driven by the success of SEC teams in recent years. He points to the examples of UCLA and Syracuse, which made deep runs in the tournament despite being lower-seeded teams ¹. Sankey argues that these teams demonstrate the “bandwidth” of competitiveness within the top 50 teams, and that expanding the tournament would provide more opportunities for deserving teams to compete ¹.

While some critics argue that expansion could dilute the tournament’s competitiveness and hurt smaller conferences, Sankey emphasizes that any changes would need to be carefully considered to preserve the tournament’s integrity ². NCAA president Charlie Baker has also expressed caution, noting that any changes to the tournament would need to be done with “care and consideration” .