By: Colton Wood
The “madness” is right around the corner as the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament commences with the first two First Four games tomorrow.
The full bracket was released yesterday on Selection Sunday. It was aired on CBS and showed analysts revealing the games and breaking down the keys to victory. Teams across the country gathered around and watched this program. Unfortunately, teams quickly began to know what their future was before it was even announced on TV.
On social media, the bracket was leaked, spawning instant controversy. The anticipation and nerves were gone as the athletes and coaches knew their next opponent minutes earlier than the TV broadcast announced it.
The majority of the people with opinions on this topic think that having the bracket leaked was great and that it “proved a point to CBS”, the broadcast partner of Selection Sunday. The analysts were said to have aggravated their viewers by prolonging the show and talking more about the games than revealing them.
The NCAA on the other hand, didn’t enjoy the bracket being leaked. A spokesperson for the NCAA said in a statement that, “We go to great lengths to prevent the tournament field from being revealed early and the N.C.A.A. took its usual measures to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately, and regrettably, the bracket was revealed prior to our broadcast partners having the opportunity to finish unveiling it. We take this matter seriously and we are looking into it.”
CBS paid millions to cover the tournament and Selection Sunday so this obviously aggravated them also.
To put this in prospective and to be in CBS’s and the NCAA’s shoes, having the bracket being leaked out is sort of like you going to great lengths to attend an exam review session for a class so you can complete the study guide. The session took upwards of around four hours, but you then found out that someone found the answers and completed the study guide in less than ten minutes. That would aggravate you wouldn’t it?
If the NCAA and CBS does not want this to occur again, they should rethink the structure of their show starting with naming each team and their opponent. After that has concluded, then the analysts can talk about the games and break it down.