Quite frankly, I'd say every team deserves a shot at the national championship.
 
While it may be difficult to choose the best 12 (soon possibly 16), the
NCAA has a very strict, clear and public method of determining those 12
teams. If you make it in to the tournament, you get to play for the trophy.
 
If they do expand to 16 teams, and give the MAAC an automatic bid, I'm all
for it.
 
As for those teams that many feel are not "deserving" of a shot at the
title, I'd say they deserve the chance all the more. They way Quinnipiac is
playing this year, I'd love to see them be included in the final 12.
 
Would they be taking the place of another team? Yes. Is that other team
more deserving? Probably not, if the numbers point to their omission.
 
Furthermore, everybody would be changing their tune if a team like
Quinnipiac faced say, North Dakota in the first round and managed to come
out victorious. This is one of the great things about the NCAA tournaments
for any sport; they can allow the small, unknown teams and schools a chance
to make a bit of a mark.
 
I'd welcome an automatic bid for the MAAC in a second, as well as a 16-team
tourney. So what if that means the percentage of teams is high; sounds a
lot more fun to me. Not to mention, within a few years of moving to 16
teams I wouldn't be surprised to see a #1 or #2 lose to a #15 or #16, which
in my eyes would make that bottom seed deserving of the chance.
 
 
greenie
 
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