I listed the mid-majors who have made the Final 4. Memphis had Derrick Rose, who they got to Memphis illegally. Butler, VCU, Gonzaga, Wichita, and Utah are all teams that had success mostly because of their elite coaches. I would argue that their success is mostly the coaches, and not because of the quality of players. The argument I read on CB is that a larger playoff means that the talent level will get spread out. If that’s true, it doesn’t extend to mid-majors/G5. There haven’t been many big runs in CBB from teams with elite players, just elite coaches. The larger playoff doesn’t create parity with recruits like some on CB suggest.

Regarding the 2nd point. Saban passed Bear Bryant for the most NC by a college head coach. Between 1964 and 1975, UCLA won 10 national championships even with a 20+ team tournament. With a big playoff, shouldn’t there have been parity? Or was one all-time coach just better than everyone else?