Why ACC commissioner Jim Phillips says 'it's time to look at' expanding NCAA tournaments
CHARLOTTE — With the College Football Playoffs expanding to 12 teams for college football, could the NCAA basketball tournaments be next?
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips thinks it’s time to have that conversation.
“I think where we're needing some dialogue is in not only looking at the men's basketball and women's basketball tournament, but some of the other tournaments that have fewer opportunities,” said Phillips during the Commissioner’s Forum at the ACC men’s basketball media days Wednesday. “When you have this compression that I feel that we have to address in the sense that you have a lot of schools that are spending a tremendous amount of resources in sports and not having a chance to access those championships, I certainly felt like we deserved more than five ACC teams last year on the men's side, and I felt like we deserved more than eight on the women's side.”
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The men’s basketball tournament has consisted of 68 teams, including the four play-in games, since 2011, while the women’s basketball tournament recently expanded to a field of 68. The ACC had five teams make the men’s tournament, with North Carolina reaching the national championship game. On the women’s side, eight conference teams made the NCAA tournament, with Louisville and NC State reaching the Elite Eight.
“I won't say anything about where they sent NC State either this morning,” Phillips said in reference to the Wolfpack women being a No. 1 seed and having to play UConn in the Bridgeport, Connecticut regional finals, adding, “The time is now as we're looking at the overall structure of the NCAA, and one of their responsibilities has been championships. So, I'm in favor of looking at it, and I really would like us to expand. … Similar to what we've done in the CFP, I think we'll have to do the same across the sports that are sponsored from an NCAA level.”
The logistics of a potential tournament expansion would still have to be worked out. More tournament games would more than likely affect how many games teams play in the regular season, including conference schedules.
“There will be a lot of work that needs to be done,” Phillips said. “It has to be done thoughtfully. We need to make sure we're listening to the membership. … I really believe it to be possible, and I don't think it gets watered down. I don't believe that the NCAA tournaments get less exciting in baseball or lacrosse or basketball by having additional schools that qualify for it.”
Louisville men's basketball:See the Cardinals' full 2022-23 schedule
Louisville women's basketball:See the Cardinals' full 2022-23 schedule
Here's what else Phillips had to say during media day:
On whether the ACC should’ve dissolved its divisions sooner
The ACC announced in June it will drop football divisions starting in 2023, instead moving to a 3-5-5 scheduling format where each team is given three yearly rivalry games during a four-year cycle and will play the remaining 10 conference teams twice over the course of four years, home and away. Phillips was asked if the conference should have done this sooner.
“Hindsight is always 20/20, right?" he said. "But this was something that we agreed to amongst the coaches and athletic directors and our staff. We put an awful lot of work into it and feel that it was the right time to do it. I'm really pleased with the season that we've had, and of course it looks as of right now we have an imbalance of power on one side versus the other, but don't say that to the other division because I've seen quite a few really competitive games, et cetera.
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"We'll match up the two division winners in Charlotte that first Saturday in December and have a great game. You always look at — I look at some of the matchups we've had early in the year, and last weekend or two weekends ago, we had four ranked teams in the top 20 or so battling against each other in Tallahassee and in Clemson. It would be great if you could project at the end of the year and play four top-20 teams near the end there. Those things just happened, and you schedule it in a fair and equitable way and sometimes a division gets out of balance and sometimes they don't.
"Really no remorse in not changing divisions a year earlier."
Correction: This story was updated to reflect the NCAA women's basketball tournament now includes 68 teams.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: ACC commissioner Jim Phillips ready for NCAA tournaments to expand
