Sports
Fox’s College Hoops Tournament Proposal Faces Logistical Hurdles – Sportico
By Molly Geary
Could the next college basketball postseason include a 16-team men’s tournament in Las Vegas? That’s what Fox Sports is hoping, and if the network’s vision comes to life, it could have notable implications.
Last week, The Messenger’s Seth Davis reported that Fox Sports’ proposal—the subject of ongoing discussions—would feature 16 teams from the Big 12, Big East and Big Ten conferences that don’t make the NCAA Tournament playing in a tourney at T-Mobile Arena during the last week of March. The 16 spots would go to the teams with the highest NCAA NET rankings left out of the Big Dance, and teams would be required to participate if selected. Why those three conferences? They all have rights deals with Fox.
The plan raises a number of questions. One of the biggest: What would this mean for the NIT? Long college basketball’s other March tournament, the 32-team field, which has ESPN as a TV partner, was purchased by the NCAA in 2005 (and it’s a lucrative venture for the association). With ESPN also owning women’s March Madness media rights for at least one more season and CBS/Turner holding the men’s NCAA tournament through 2032, it’s not hard to see why Fox Sports might want to get in on the postseason hoops action. But convincing viewers to tune in to watch mediocre-to-bad power conference teams after two weeks of NCAA tournament action seems like a hard sell. And unlike the NIT, this wouldn’t be a true “best of the rest” event.
Of the 15 total teams from the Big Ten, Big East and Big 12 that missed the NCAA tournament last year, only six were invited to the NIT. Under this new proposal, those six would be taken out of the NIT, and instead all 15 (including 7-25 Georgetown and 9-22 Minnesota) would have their own tournament. Where would the 16th team come from? That’s unclear right now (though it helps that the Big 12 is increasing from 10 to 14 teams this season).
In conference tournaments, the draw of seeing last-place schools storm through their bracket is that the prize is an improbable Big Dance bid; without those stakes—and with the field limited to three conferences—are potential viewers going to care?
The timing of the event presents a big logistical challenge. By holding it the last week of March, after the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight round, you’re essentially asking rosters to stay intact for up to two-and-a-half weeks before the 16-team Vegas tourney even begins. If there’s one thing sure about the off-the-court mechanisms of college basketball in March, it’s that the roster and coaching carousels start spinning the second a team ends its season. Case in point: The day before the 2023 NCAA Tournament first round began, there were already 400 men’s players in the transfer portal.
What incentive do players with transfer plans have to stick around, particularly when teams whose seasons are over waste no time starting to fill their roster holes? According to The Messenger, Fox “plans to encourage its corporate partners to set up name, image and likeness deals for players who are competing” in the Vegas tournament. That definitely helps, but will it be enough? And what happens if a team fires its coach after the conference tournament and a mass roster exodus happens, leaving a squad without enough players to compete? These are logistical questions that will need to be ironed out if the Fox idea is to proceed.
Get our latest stories in the feed of your favorite networks
We want to hear from you! Send us a tip using our anonymous form.
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Sportico is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2023 Sportico Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.