How To Create An All-Inclusive NCAA Tournament Bracket

As coaches and administrators deal with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, many have turned to outside-the-box thinking throughout the college sports landscape. Baseball coaches presented the New Model, a plan to push the season back a month. Notre Dame, long a staunch independent in football, has joined the ACC this fall. Most conferences are exploring playing fall sports during the spring semester.

Anything and everything is on the table in this unprecedented year for college athletics. And if that wasn’t true before, it certainly has to be this week after the ACC basketball coaches on Wednesday unanimously voted to propose that every eligible basketball team make the NCAA Tournament this spring.

The measure, which has prominent proponents in Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, was quickly met with a sharp dose of reality. NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt on Thursday said there are no plans to expand the tournament.

But Gavitt’s statement didn’t stop the idea from creating shockwaves around college sports. It didn’t take long for me to consider how the idea could be adapted for baseball. While nothing of the sort is on the table and it would be incredibly difficult to pull off in a baseball season that is likely to already be an unusual one, it’s still a fun hypothetical to explore.