It ain't broke so don't fix it. This year we want to add 4 teams so Pitt gets in. No matter what number you expand to there will still be a bubble and there will still be bitching.
I don't understand this logic. We arent saying to go to 96 or 128. And Im not just saying this because Pitt has been on the bubble 2 years in a row. This is AAU ball now. Guys are free agents every year. Pay for play is here (disguised as collectives paying NIL). Teams can get good really fast and no one can be really bad anymore. Because of the redistribution of talent, there's almost no talent difference between the #10 team in the country and #50. Its never been like that.
Even if we agree that this is an unusual year and let's say the MWC, A10, American, ACC, and P12 didn't have bid stealers in their tournaments, would it ruin the NCAA Tournament if lets say your last 8 teams in playing in Dayton for 4 spots in the Round of 64 were like:
Wake vs Cincy
Iowa vs Providence
Ohio State vs Indiana State
Kansas State vs Villanova
Would people really boycott those games? Would people watch less of the regular season? No one watches the regular season anyway. Would Champ Week ratings go down? Even if people didnt like these games and didnt watch in any meaningful numbers, it doesnt change the appeal of the Round of 64, 32, Sweet 16, etc.
What they would also need to do is push the start of these games to Wednesday. Have 2 sites. Dayton and whatever the 2nd best college sports/college basketball fanbase is who would buy tickets. Omaha? Indianapolis? Des Moines? Midwesterners are unbelievable sports fans.
You'd need to have these games in the bracket challenge pools so people will watch. Brackets due by 6PM Wednesday instead of noon on Thursday. Not a huge deal.
Wednesday
6:00 Dayton 16 seeds
8:00 Omaha 16 seeds
8:30 Dayton 11 seeds
10:30 Omaha 11 seeds
Repeat schedule on Thursday.
1st/2nd Round runs Fri/Sun and Sat/Mon giving school kids and people who work in the office the chance to watch 1st Round games on Saturday.