More March Madness

By Joseph P. Fuhr
Professor of Economics
Widener University School of Business Administration

March Madness is back, and if some people have their way, in the not too distant future there will be even more March Madness. There are some who are proposing that the tournament should be expanded to 96 teams. I suspect that we shall see this occur in the next few years. Why? The two most powerful forces in college basketball, the media and the coaches, want it. The media want it because they can generate more revenue as the number of games is expanded. The coaches want it because what institution will fire a coach who has made the NCAA tournament? From an economic point of view it makes sense because it will generate more revenue for not only the media, but also for the institutions and coaches.

What about the quality of the games? Will it deteriorate as more teams of lower quality enter the tournament? Does it make sense to have a championship tournament that allows the “best” 96 teams to compete? Will the fans gain from this experience? Remember this is the same NCAA that does not have a champion decided on the football field because of the money generated by bowl games. So get ready for more March Madness and be ready to answer the real pressing question: How do we fit a 96 team pool onto one piece of paper?