‘It’s a treasure’: Inside the battle for the soul of the NCAA tournament

The NCAA is dealing with a flurry of court cases, labor board decisions and congressional apathy. And as college sports teeters on the precipice of significant change, there’s concern the NCAA’s hallmark event will change with it.

Click here to read the story at espn.com.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is conference realignment as it relates to the business of college sports?
2. Why does realignment occur?
3. How has NIL impacted the business of college sports?
4. What about the transfer portal?
5. Why is the NCAA tournament important to the overall state of college sports?
6. According to this story, conversations have been ongoing about the possibility of expanding the number of teams in the men’s tournament. How many teams would they potentially allow?
7. Why would they expand?
8. In your opinion, how might expansion impact the popularity of the tournament?
9. According to some industry sources, the men’s tournament could be worth double the $1.1 billion it generates annually. How so?
10. How might the increased popularity of the women’s game increase the value of the NCAA tournament?
11. Why is the tournament important to smaller conference schools (The America East for example)?
12. How could changes to the tournament impact those programs?