While my waistline has expanded, my bracket….

Doesn’t need to.

It’s time for March Madness. Conference tournaments are in full swing and teams are “punching their ticket”, actually, I think that’s a lame saying, teams are winning their way into the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

65 teams was one too many. Eliminate an at-large. That team is not going to win it anyway, so get rid of it. Keep it at 64 and screw the play-in. Whatever is done, 96 teams should not be added.

This is not Little League sports. You do not sign-up and get on a team and get a medal. 65 teams get to “Dance”. That’s plenty. That’s prestigious. And, let’s not forget, PLENTY of money is made already.

There is a little economic idea that their is a point of diminishing returns. Expansion past 65 is it. Bowl games in NCAA football are so uninteresting, so bloated and so worthless to the big picture that they become unwatchable. What is a Meineke Car Care Bowl anyway? Rose, Cotton, Sugar…basic, one word bowls.

64 teams. 4 regions, 16 teams per region. A Final Four. Simple, one piece of paper. Can you imagine how many 2 page brackets will be printed if the tournament expands to 96 teams? Do you want to have to flip the paper over to get to your final picks? Expansion is absurd and will kill trees.

If job productivity does not already get killed enough the week after Selection Sunday, what will happen when people need to fill out 50% picks? Horrible idea for everyone involved.

Stick to what works, NCAA. 65 (or 64 if you want to remember who brought you to the dance, and by that I mean prominence, enthusiasm and success unrivaled in college sports).

Quick hits of the day:

– Congrats to the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies! OU got 36 points from Derick Nelson, a fifth year senior who was HOT from outside. Fantastic performance to get into the Big Dance.

– I get pretty excited when I hear “And THIS is American Idol.” Seacrest is a stud.

– Max Scherzer is well on his way to fulfilling Tom Verducci’s (with agreement from TheLockhart) prophecy that his innings spike last year will kill him this year. Two horrible outings when pitching is supposed to be ahead of hitting.

– Keep it coming Austin Jackson and Don Kelly. This is what Spring Training does, we start rooting EARLY.

Goodnight and God Bless,

Scott