Mark Few on why he’s reluctant to expand the NCAA Tournament: 'It's the greatest sporting event out there'

Few voiced concerns that expansion of the NCAA Tournament could lessen the value of the regular season

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament has long been regarded as one of the most unique sporting events in the U.S., though talks of potentially expanding its field continue to surface.

NCAA President Charlie Baker told ESPN in February that he thinks there is an opportunity to expand the NCAA Tournament beyond it's current 68-team format "if it's done with care." Baker added the NCAA's basketball committee has discussed the idea since last summer.

Add in the fact that Baker and the NCAA have reportedly agreed on a multi-billion dollar agreement to settle three antitrust cases, and March Madness could look very different in the near future. As part of the settlement the NCAA will allow schools to pay their student-athletes directly under a new revenue-sharing model that will reportedly begin in 2025. The revenue-sharing model could create an even bigger divide between the power conferences and the non-football conferences like the West Coast Conference.

Mark Few, who’s been to the NCAA Tournament every season since 1999 as head coach of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, described the first two weeks of the postseason as “the greatest sporting event out there.” As such, he was not ready to put his stamp of approval on expansion out of concern it would diminish the value of the regular season.

“You don’t want to lessen the regular season,” Few said on Gonzaga Nation. “I understand what some of the thought processes are. There is great parity happening. It’s getting harder and harder to maybe choose the 68 [teams]. But at the same time when you go through the mock, well here’s who would’ve got in if we went to 96, it would just make the regular season not nearly as important and probably not very watchable a lot of times.”

Few, who’s 43-24 in the NCAA Tournament and coming off his ninth straight Sweet 16 appearance, has expressed great appreciation for the NCAA Tournament and its uniqueness throughout Gonzaga’s postseason successes. Perhaps this year even more so than ever before given the position the Zags were in early in the 2023-24 season.

“It’s just such a blessing to be involved in [the NCAA Tournament],” Few said on Selection Sunday after Gonzaga earned a No. 5 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. “Everybody has a tendency to take it for granted. I get people running up to me, ‘I can’t wait for March Madness’ — they’re telling me that in July. I’m just like, ‘No, you got to earn your way into that, you don’t just get in.’ Obviously there were times this year when it didn’t seem like it might happen so … hopefully that was a good way to kind of, get us back level and set to really, really appreciate moments like this and to be involved in the greatest sporting event I think there is.”

As discussions for expansion or a new format likely will continue in the future, Few will continue to hear the other side of the argument.

“I’m very intent on listening to the side for expansion and having an open mind to it,” Few said. “But I’m very reluctant to jump all in on it.”

Few shared his thoughts on the the future of the NCAA Tournament, what it’s like watching former Zags play in the NBA Playoffs and much more on a new Gonzaga Nation episode.

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Produced by Thomas Gallagher.

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