First of all, the griping already is background noise. No one cares about who is left out, other than the teams being left out. I think maybe it SEEMS more relevant to us because VT has frequently been a bubble team. But no one outside of VT cares if VT gets in or out or thinks the tournament is better or worse because we're in or out. The same will be true for the 257th team. So the griping will be EXACTLY the same -- except you won't have to worry about it being VT who is griping. Second, 256 being an even number isn't a very good case for 256. Byes happen in many sports playoffs, expanding all the way to 256 just to avoid byes doesn't seem like a very good reason. Why is inclusion of 256 teams better than 64ish? It adds games, I suppose. But does that make the tournament better? I don't really see how. And if you think more is better, why not include every D1 team and figure out how do make the numbers work? I guess I don't see why 256 is better than 64ish but not better than 351. If you want to be inclusive and eliminate the need to make difficult selection decisions, just include everyone. Everyone gets a participation trophy! Finally, I don't think a larger field minimizes useless/biased selection tools. It simply kicks the can down to 256 rather than 64. Also, seeding will become even MORE important in a larger field. With more games and more places to trip up, the path to a championship would hinge MORE on who is in one's bracket. So you haven't elminated bias at all -- it's still there with regard to seeding and regions. The complains and whining will simply shift from who got in and who was left out to who was favored in the seedings and path to a championship. Seems to me it just waters down the tournament A single elmination tournament with 256 teams seems like even more of a crap shoot than now.