March Madness betting currently includes 65 teams but that number is likely to rise in the future. Many people are advocating expansion when it comes to the NCAA Tournament so you can expect to see more teams on the board as you make a March Madness bet.
March Madness betting has 65 teams that are quickly reduced to 64 when the real tournament begins. Expansion to 96 teams is being talked about and there are a number of people in favor of more teams including Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. He recently talked to CNN and said that there are always teams left out of the tournament each year. “My issue is the last eight teams selected for the tournament by the committee are going to look just like the eight that are left out, and those are going to be teams that win 22-23 games,” Boeheim said.
The concern about expanding the tournament is the extra time to play the games but it seems to be a minor issue. Expansion in March Madness betting would give people more options when making a March Madness bet and would help some teams like Northwestern who really don’t have much of a chance to get in unless they have a super year. “A 96 field team would open it up,” Northwestern assistant coach Mitch Henderson said, “I would imagine with 96 teams it would open up to some conferences that don’t have at large bids,” he said. “You get some teams that work hard, but their [statistics] aren’t high enough to get the automatic bid.”
In addition to helping teams like Northwestern in March Madness betting, expansion would also help smaller conferences like the Horizon League which normally just has Butler and no other teams making the March Madness betting board. “When I was a student athlete we made the tournament in 1997 for the first time since the ‘60s and we got in and we lost,” Butler assistant coach Matthew Graves said, “but for that week preparing, the atmosphere around the school was a tremendous feeling and an accomplishment to be a part.”
Going from 65 teams to 96 teams in March Madness betting would have more days added to the NCAA Tournament schedule and that is good news for those making a March Madness bet. That might not be as difficult as it sounds in March Madness betting as there could be 32 teams that get first round byes. More may indeed be better as you make a March Madness bet.