ESPN’s Jay Bilas Emphatically Blasts NCAA Tournament Expansion Proposal

The famed media personality and Duke Blue Devils alum disputes the idea that some teams need additional “access” to the event.

ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas blasted the NCAA on Saturday, days after its president, Charlie Baker, said the organization’s basketball committee is discussing the possibility of expanding the men’s NCAA tournament. 

While on the set of ESPN’s College GameDay before No. 1 UConn played host to Villanova, Bilas gave the NCAA a piece of his mind. He particularly took a shot at Baker’s idea of “expanding access” to more teams. Baker had raised the idea of an expanded field in a wide-ranging video with ESPN’s Dan Murphy that was posted Friday.

“Never underestimate the NCAA’s capacity to do something stupid,” Bilas said. “And, if they did this, it would be profoundly stupid. When anyone says more teams need access to the tournament: every team has the same access to the tournament now. All you have to do is win your conference automatic bid, which is against your peers with a group of teams you have chosen to be among.”

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Bilas emphasized the fact that every Division I team has a chance to reach the tournament and scoffed at the idea of expanding the field from 68 teams to an absurd 96. The home crowd’s cheers at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., made it clear that Huskies fans agree with Bilas. 

“The one thing that everybody’s forgetting is this is not an access tournament. It’s a national championship event,” Bilas said. “You should have to do something hard to get in.”