Since April 1, when NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen revealed detailed plans to expand the men’s college basketball tournament to 96 teams, sportswriters, fans and coaches have weighed in, expressing their (often vehement) positions on the matter.

For the most part, journalists across the country have decried the impending expansion, citing decreases in tournament interest, a muddled selection process and the loss of “traditional” March Madness (even though the current format has only been around for 25 years) as reasons for not expanding the field from 65 to 96.

College basketball coaches, on the other hand, have been far more receptive to the NCAA’s proposed changes. Why? I talked to Boston University men’s basketball coach Patrick Chambers to try and figure out how a 96-team field might benefit college basketball in general (and the BU program more specifically).

So, how is a 31-team expansion good for anyone but the NCAA, which will, in all likelihood, cash in on the deal, and men’s basketball coaches, who will end up with far greater job security? Chambers says they will help the student-athletes.

“In four years, these kids could go through two or three different head coaches,” he said. “I know that you’re supposed to choose a college or university based on education, but that doesn’t always happen.
Sometimes [athletes] are going [to a school] for a particular coach; and, if that team has a couple of bad years, the coach could be out. That’s not really fair to these kids.”

I’m with Chambers on this point . . . for the most part. As is the case almost every year after March Madness, the cyclical hiring and firing of coaches has gone into overdrive. The process, which does not take athletes’ feelings into consideration, almost always seems a bit rash and shortsighted.

Yet, for every coach deserving of a “second chance,” there are, undoubtedly, underachieving bench bosses whose jobs would probably (and unrightfully) be saved by a bid to the NCAA tournament. So, which is worse: saving an undeserving coach or severing ties with potentially talented skipper? The answer to that question isn’t clear-cut (and probably depends on whether you’re an athlete, a coach or a sportswriter).

But wouldn’t an expanded field muddle the action and detract from the drama, anyway?

“A 96-team field wouldn’t cheapen the feel,” Chambers said. “Division I football accepts almost 50 percent of teams &- why can’t basketball have the same percentage and the same right to get a bid? [An expanded field] would produce more Cinderella stories. . . look at this year, fans and non-fans love the fact that Butler made it to [the championship game].”

This point, however, is where my opinion differs from Chambers’. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is special because it doesn’t reward mediocrity (like the Football Bowl Series) &- there’s a reason why the NIT, CBI and CIT exist. Some teams, like BU, deserve a shot at a post-season tournament bid, but haven’t quite earned the right to punch a ticket to March’s biggest dance. So why get rid of the NIT by expanding the NCAA’s?

And I’ve had enough of people allowing Butler basketball to play the Hoosiers card &- the Bulldogs have been an extremely successful “mid-major” program (appearing in six of the last 10 NCAA tournaments). The “other” BU program’s success is in no way any indication that Cinderella teams would have more success in a 96-team field.

In fact, it’s probably safe to bet that the majority of the final 31 teams admitted to the tournament would be eliminated in the tournament’s first round.

So, what does all of this mean for fans of BU basketball?

“If [the NCAA] accepted regular season champions, it would certianly help smaller conferences [like the America East],” Chambers said. “And, if BU made the NCAA’s, you would certainly hope that [Terrier] fans would come out and really get behind this team . . . it would be an experience.”

There’s no arguing with Chambers on this point. It would seem a nearly impossible task to find anyone on BU’s Charles River Campus who wouldn’t be proud to say that his or her basketball team had made the field of 96.

And, while the experience of winning an NCAA hockey championship is certainly amazing, there’s no denying that a bid to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament would be something special.

“You see other universities with incredible [basketball] fans, a great turnout,” Chambers said. “It becomes part of those four years &- it’s an experience.”

And yes, it seems almost inevitable that the NCAA will expand its field to 96 sometime in the near feature (a decision, Chambers said, that is motivated largely by money).

But whether or not that decision is good for BU basketball remains to be seen.