No longer will there be confusion about what to call the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament in March.
Ever since the NCAA Tournament expanded with play-in games, there has been confusion about what to call the games and the first set of games that take place every Thursday and Friday. The games had been referred to as First and Second Round for the play-in games, which confused a lot of people.
However, the NCAA is seeking to eliminate that confusion and will simply go back to the old way of referring to the Thursday and Friday games as the “First Round.”
“The Thursday-Friday games will be known as first and second rounds, so there’s no more, quote-unquote, third round,” NCAA spokesman David Worlock said while discussing the change to the name. “So Thursday and Friday is the round of 64, Saturday and Sunday is the round of 32, and then obviously the Sweet 16 and Final Four hasn’t been changed.”
This is easily the right decision by the NCAA here. While the additions of teams has made for a fun tournament, not having a consistent vernacular when referring to the games has made it difficult for fans to understand and in some cases, has made it harder for fans to get into.
Going with a set name makes it easier for everyone to understand and follow the tournament more. The NCAA Tournament Selection show will take place on March 13, and from there we will know the games in the First Round. The whole idea of the first weekend being called the second and third round was insane, and it is nice to know the NCAA has a tiny bit of sense.