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Move for more “TV tonnage” would further devalue NCAA men’s basketball tournament

"Big-time sports, over decades, has a sweeping narrative: Make more TV tonnage, or ‘inventory’ as it’s known in TV circles," Michael Hiestand writes, then adds, "Complaining about that more-is-more mantra just sounds cranky — like you can’t get over the demise of Nickel Beer Nights. So while the idea of expanding the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament from 65 to 96 teams — being floated as the NCAA this year could opt out of the last three years of its current CBS deal — might sound like the usual dilution in sports that fans will hardly notice, it’s not. Diminishing the Big Dance and popping debates about who’s on the bubble would inevitably devalue college basketball’s regular-season, conference tournaments and its NCAA selection show."
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