NCAA VP/Men’s Basketball Championships Dan Gavitt said that the men’s basketball committee recently opted “against holding a TV show that would unveil an official, up-to-the-minute look at the bracket and/or an overall rankings system,” according to Matt Norlander of CBSSPORTS.com. Gavitt yesterday said, “The surprise of Selection Sunday is one of the things that makes March Madness special. Peeking at the presents under the Christmas tree was not something this committee was anxious to offer up at this point.” Norlander noted last season’s inaugural CFP was “accompanied in the final six weeks of college football's regular season by a Tuesday night made-for-TV special that listed the top 25 teams per that event's official selection committee.” The decision to put up a week-by-week TV listing of teams “had its critics and its proponents alike.” Gavitt “stressed that the NCAA is still mulling ways to make college basketball more vital, engaging and attention-grabbing prior to March.” Norlander noted discussions about “having a similar TV program will be addressed again come next season, most likely, and again the men's basketball committee will vote on whether or not to do that.” Gavitt said that “no formal proposals were made, but if discussions happened years down the road, they would start with ‘CBS and Turner in mind’” (CBSSPORTS.com, 2/3). Gavitt: “There just didn't seem to be a lot of appetite for something that would be very, very similar to what the CFP did. Something that's unique and special about basketball is that there is one moment, one time, Selection Sunday where it's all revealed. It's appointment viewing because of the nature of that” (USATODAY.com, 2/3).
