When Mike Krzyzewski started his coaching career at Duke, the NCAA Tournament consisted of 48 teams, and earning a spot in the annual event was harder than many people may remember.
Now, all these years later, the NCAA has agreed to expand the tournament from 68 to 76 starting in 2027. The legendary coach isn’t exactly thrilled about the change, and he has one major reason.
“I would’ve rather have had it stay the way it was,” Krzyzewski said. “I think, if you would get more mid-majors in. That’s not the plan, though. The plan would be to get more Power Five, because you add the Big East to the Power Four. They’re going to get in.”
There was so much talk this past March about the role of mid-majors, especially Miami of Ohio, in the tournament. Despite the RedHawks turning in a perfect regular season, some argued that, without winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament and earning the conference’s automatic bid, Travis Steele’s squad shouldn’t get an at-large bid.
When Miami lost in the MAC tourney, the conversation went up a notch, with former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl arguing that his son’s Tigers deserved a bid more than the RedHawks. Justice came through when Miami earned a bid.
Coach K also has a thoughtful approach to handling all the play-in games.
“I do look at it, though, I wish they would call it a play-in tournament,” he said. “I’m with the NBA now. Our Play-In Tournament’s unbelievable – 7-10 in each division. Basically, that’s what you’re doing with those teams. The tournament starts later in the week. Really, to publicize it, it might be better to say it’s a ‘play-in tournament.’ … But it is what it is. They didn’t screw it up too much because it’s still one week.”
This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Coach K against NCAA Tournament expanding to 76 teams
