The Play-In Game: What's The Use?

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Winthrop and Arkansas-Pine Bluff play tonight for the right to face Duke in the NCAA Tournament opening round. It will be a chance for these two teams to be featured two days before the tournament begins and create a little bit of interest. Nobody realistically thinks that the winner of this game would beat Duke so some would say what is the use of this game. I too have this same sentiment but I have more reasons.

I never understood the point of the play-in game until I looked at the makeup of the tournament. There are 31 automatic bids that go to the teams that win their conference tournament with the exception of the Ivy League in which the bid goes to whoever wins the regular season. The 34 remaining bids go to at-large teams.

I would rather them just eliminate the play-in game and go to 64 teams. That would mean taking away an at-large bid and I don't have a real problem with that. Everyone focuses so much on who get snubbed when realistically they don't have a shot to win the title. That creates more talk about expanding to 96 teams which would just dilute the tournament with mediocrity. I don't see why two conference winners who earned the right to go into the tournament have to play a play-in game. If I wanted a play-in game, I would have it be against the two teams that are the first out. Granted there will still be complaining but at least there are bubble teams who have a "second chance" to get into the tournament.

So what do you think about the play-in game? Do you see a use for it and do you like how it is presently constituted? Would you eliminate it, change who would participate in it, or would you like to add more games?

 

[Big Sexy]

The play-in game is there because it's a way to get rid of the worst small conference winner before the tournament really starts. The game takes the two worst small conference winners and has them face off. This year it was a 19-14 Winthrop team taking on an 18-15 Arkansas Pine Bluff team. These are two teams that probably wouldn't have even made the NIT had it not been for their conference tournaments.

ARPB beat the Throp by 17. If Winthrop couldn't even keep it close with them then in the tournament they would have been even more embarrassed then the 16 seeds usually are. At large teams have a better chance of making some noise in the tournament then these slighlty above .500 small conference winners do.

You said that taking away an at large bid isn't a big deal because bubble teams don't have a good shot at winning, but they sure as fuck have a better chance then some small conference team that got hot in their tournament and got a 16 seed.

Just last year Arizona was a bubble team and they made the sweet 16. Two years ago Villanova did the same thing. And don't forget that in 2006 George Mason didn't win their conference tournament, they received an at large bid. If it wasn't for the play in game then maybe George Mason doesn't get in as a bubble team and we don't get to see their amazing run to the final four.