In Reply to: Yes, fear everybody being invited. Gee, lets do it round-robin. posted by azbruin on March 17, 2025 at 19:04:41
That, of course, is an absurdly unsatisfying idea. The conferences encourage, nurture and systematize rivalries. This appeals to all of us. As evidence, millions avidly follow college hoop (Ha! I go modern!). The tournament too, with its modicum of unequal games that retain the potential for fatal upsets, immediately followed by real, figuratively (I didn't misuse "literally"!) deadly battles, is very appealing too, the way it's set up, hence its popularity.
An unfortunate side effect of the whole system is this subjective picking and seeding of teams. Tough beans, that is. It's a small price I see no way out from.