Surviving a Brutal Road Trip

Posted by Brian on February 09, 2010
Article, Big East Play
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Not only did Villanova have to deal with mother nature over the weekend, but they also faced two of the best teams in the country on the road in a matter of 60 hours.  Like I said prior to the Georgetown game, I would have signed up for 1-1 over this stretch.  The Wildcats obliged with the win at West Virginia, and they get a solid 4 days off before a nice pair of home games against Providence and Connecticut.  Before we start focusing on the upcoming contests, let’s wrap up the game from last night.

-Postgame Quotes

-Villanova rallies from Georgetown loss, beats West Virginia

-Villanova beats West Virginia on the road

-Reynolds leads rebound victory for Villanova

-Andy Katz: Quick hitters from around the country

-Jay Wright’s interview with Mike Francesa

WFAN is my favorite sports radio station by far, and Mike Francesa is the best of the best.  One of the things Francesa touches on with Wright is the possibility of expanding the NCAA Tournament to include more teams.  Wright is in favor of a 96 team tourney, but Francesa brings up some good points to not expand the field; he mentions that regular season games will be less exciting, because in theory, it will be easier to make the big dance, so the regular season contests won’t mean as much.  I, for one, agree with Francesa and do not believe the tourney should be expanded.  There are only a few teams at most every year that get snubbed, which is part of the excitement of Selection Sunday.  Even some very mediocre teams get in the field, so there’s no reason to let 32 more average teams get in.  Anyone have any thoughts on this topic?

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15 Comments to Surviving a Brutal Road Trip

Chris
February 10, 2010

Love Jay, but he’s flat-out wrong on the expansion.

64 is special. 96 is a joke.

Vinnie
February 10, 2010

Why mess with the best event in sports?

If anything they should go back to 64 teams. Although it was nice when we were (probably) the 65th team in 2008 and made the S16!

It’s understandable why coaches would feel the way they do though. They feel pressure to make the tournament every year – remember Jay’s first 3 years?

login77
February 10, 2010

It should be the best teams make it. Some of these automatic bids are ridiculous. Take the Ivies they don’t belong. Or take the next best 12 or 16 teams and let them play for two days and come out with the top two teams. To go to 96 is ridiculous.

Also during the interview Jay’s point was there are now 340 something teams playing division 1 and the field should be expanded based on numbers. but the reality is a lot of those teams are just not that good.

Brian
February 10, 2010

The field should not be expanded, but I think the automatic bids should still be in place. It gives the smaller schools a chance to play for something, and cinderellas making noise in the dance is one of the best things in the NCAA Tournament.

Jamie
February 10, 2010

To be honest, I’m more upset about the fact that we’ll never have the type of atmosphere seen last year at the Sweet 16 again……seeing as every Sweet 16 & Elite 8 will be played in a football dome….

If you were to tell me that we’d increase the field to 96 but the only game played in a football stadium would be the final four (I don’t agree with this either but its not even a debate at this point), i would take that in a heartbeat.

The raw intensity for those who watched or were fortunate to be there last year in Boston will never be duplicated again…. and its sad.

Vinnie
February 10, 2010

Boston was such a great atmosphere for the tournament. Not just the arena but the bars across the street. One of my favorite sporting memories ever.

I was at one of the bars waiting for the game to start, and the UConn-Mizzou game was on TV, they were playing it at the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium and it was half empty. Contrast that to the packed house at the Gahden that night…

The only thing is i wished they had kept the parquet floor and left the Celtics banners/jerseys up.

Phil
February 10, 2010

Sorry Jay, but expanding the tournament to 96 would be like dumping a liter of water into a bottle of fine whiskey; diluting a beautiful thing. Do we really wanna have games like “Weber State vs. Marshall”? If anyone should be hoping for a 96 team NCAA tournament it should be the Pac 10 this year, maybe then they’d be a multi-bid league…

Chris
February 10, 2010

Boston really was incredible the more you look back on it….

Jamie
February 10, 2010

For those who didn’t notice…. Chris just started sobbing into his pillow

Chris
February 10, 2010

Snow day, I can do whatever I want.

Jamie
February 10, 2010

Geez Francesa is so fat, you can hear him breathe heavily in the background as Jay talks

Vinnie
February 10, 2010

Hey Jamie, just wondering where you got your info as far as Regional Finals being held in a dome from now on…here’s a list of future sites.

http://www.bracketography.com/ncaa-tournament-sites/

Since there’s really only 1 dome in the “East” (Syracuse) and 1 dome in the “West” (Glendale), they wouldnt be able to hold all 4 regionals in a dome every year. In fact the S16/E8 games are coming back to Boston in 2012.

SpecialK73
February 10, 2010

If tournament went to 96 – might as well call it the BIG EAST Tournament II. Big East would likely have 15 teams in… If they did away with automatic bids (which they never will unless – maybe even with expansion would not)… BIG EAST would routinely land 10 teams.

I have been against…but Jay made a good point about Bowl Games (but then again who even watches some of those). Might lead to a few exciting surprises. I could be talked into it!

login77
February 10, 2010

I think Scottie will break the all time scoring record. Also Big East player of the Year!!

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