NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL Should All Be 36 Teams

Where has all the expansion teams gone?

The NHL actually has been expanding. The league has added the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken recently, which followed four expansion teams (Atlanta, Columbus, Minnesota, Nashville) at the turn of the century and 11 teams since 1990. The rest of the major four sports leagues haven't. The NFL and NBA have had weird had-to expansion teams added nearly 20 years ago. The NBA watched the Charlotte Hornets move to New Orleans, and then a new team added to Charlotte which took back its history and name from New Orleans and .... well. Long story short, the New Orleans Pelicans is technically the last franchise the NBA has added and that was in 2002. The NFL has a similar story as the Cleveland Browns left for Baltimore in 1996 but came back in 1999, making the Baltimore Ravens an expansion team in 1996 and the Houston Texans were added to even everything out in 2002. Baseball hasn't expanded since adding Arizona and Tampa Bay in 1998. 

So let's expand. Everything financially in sports is exploding. The Washington Commanders are being sold for over $6B. Let's expand! Not just two teams each league as the NBA and MLB are hinting at. Let's make every league a 36 team league.  There is certainly the talent and the markets to make that happen. 

So let's look at each league. 

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Let's start here because it is the one in the news recently with the Oakland Athletics likely moving to Las Vegas and the news of Salt Lake City beginning the process of luring a professional baseball team to Utah. Baseball, you would think, would thrive with expansion teams. Since the last time MLB expanded in 1998, global baseball has been on the rise even if it seems baseball's popularity has waned among Americans. The truth is that baseball is a very regional sport, and one advantage MLB has is the fact they can see what markets have thrived with their minor league teams when making decisions to expand. 

To make a 36-team league, we'd need to add six more clubs. Since we know that Salt Lake City, Portland, Charlotte and Nashville are actively trying to get teams, they seem to be four great choices for our expansion. All four of those cities are in geographic areas underserved by Major League Baseball. Nashville has a strong pitch to get one of those expansion teams. Salt Lake City has shown great fan support for the NBA's Utah Jazz and college programs BYU and Utah, plus franchises like the Colorado Rockies would love to have someone near them. Same reasoning for Portland, which links up with the MLB teams seemingly on an island -- the Seattle Mariners. Charlotte has routinely been one of the top teams in terms of attendance in minor league baseball and offers a team in between Baltimore and Atlanta.

So who else should join those four? Well, let's bring back the Montreal Expos. And for the final market, Oklahoma City. OKC just gets ahead of San Antonio and New Orleans. Oklahoma City has shown to be a great NBA town and they've always supported their local college teams.

So how would an expanded MLB look? Pretty much the same as we'd just add a sixth team to each of the current divisions.

AL EAST: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Charlotte Knights, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays

UConn's Blue Blood Status Is Still ... Interesting

Now that UConn has won its 5th national championship, talk has heated up if they are one of the blue bloods of college basketball. Everyone is in agreement that Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and Kansas are definite blue bloods; UCLA is nearly unanimous; and Indiana is hanging on to that status. But does Connecticut join the list?

PRO: THEY HAVE FIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS

This is the main point that should get them in. Right now, only UCLA (11), Kentucky (8) and North Carolina (6) have more national championships than UConn's five. Yes, that means the Huskies have as many titles as Duke and Indiana have and one more than Kansas. That's blue blood game right there.

CON: THEY ARE NEW BLUE BLOOD

This is one of the more interesting arguments that is kind of a backhanded compliment. Many note that Kentucky, UCLA, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas and Indiana have been historically great for decades and decades. Kansas was coached by Dr. James Naismith. North Carolina has been to a Final Four in nine straight decades. UCLA's Wooden era will never be repeated. Kentucky and Indiana have "black and white" titles. UConn's status as an elite program has really only been for the last 30 years. They don't have the history that any of the other blue bloods have, but ....

PRO: THEY'VE WON FIVE TITLES IN 25 YEARS

This is the amazing stat. Again, only three schools have more titles than UConn but only UCLA and Duke have won five titles in a 25 year span ever. Both those schools did that with one legendary coach while UConn has managed to do so with three. 

CON: THEY ARE A BOOM OR BUST PROGRAM

This is where the people who are against UConn's blue blood status tend to begin their argument. UConn has only been to six Final Fours, which places them 10th all time ... and tied with the likes of Arkansas, Cincinnati, Houston and Oklahoma State. UConn trails Indiana by two on that front and trails the other blue bloods by at least 10 appearances. Not only that, but during their 25 year reign, UConn has missed the tournament entirely eight times. They've only reached the Sweet 16 nine times during that time and have had double digit losses 14 times in that span.

PRO: THEY WIN WITH DIFFERENT COACHES IN DIFFERENT ERAS

Duke has never won a title with a coach not named Mike Krzyzewski. Several schools have won a title with two coaches. But only Kentucky, UConn, Kansas and North Carolina have won a championship under at least three different coaches (Kentucky has done so with five coaches). Also, their 2023 title places them with North Carolina as the only schools to win a national championship in four straight decades. UConn has won titles in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s (the Tar Heels won in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s).

CON: LACK OF HISTORICAL NUMBERS

This is another stickler for folks. Of the blue bloods we all recognize or debate, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and UCLA rank one through five in all-time wins. Indiana, whose hold on their status, is 10th. Connecticut is 25th. That's less than Penn, Princeton, Washington, West Virginia, BYU and Western Kentucky. Until 1990, UConn was 4-14 in NCAA tournament games. Before this tournament, they hadn't won an NCAA tournament game since beating Colorado in the 2016 dance. UConn is 12th in NCAA tournament wins all-time.

PRO: THEY'VE BEEN BETTER THAN THE OTHER BLUE BLOODS RECENTLY

I mentioned earlier where their rank is as far as championship totals. Let's take it a step further: How is UCLA or Indiana considered a blue blood if they have won zero titles since UConn's first in 1999? UCLA has won one national championship in 48 years. Indiana hasn't won one in 36 years. Kentucky has won one title since UConn's first ring. Duke and North Carolina has each won three titles in that span. And 25 years isn't nothing to sneeze at as a time frame of winning.

CON: THEIR CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE ... WEAK?

Of the last 16 NCAA tournament winners, 13 were either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. The three that weren't? UConn in 2011, UConn in 2014 and UConn in 2023. Their opponents in those games were a No. 8 seed (Butler), No. 8 seed (Kentucky) and a No. 5 seed (San Diego State). They're not the lone school to beat a low seed in a final (Kansas beat a No. 8 last year, for example), but detractors hold it against the Huskies. 

They have an extremely strong case to be considered a "blue blood" program. They certainly have the titles to prove so and probably should be placed among the greatest programs in college basketball. The main obstacle is their resume is just ... different. Sort of like the Miami Hurricanes in college football. That was a program that was built from nothing and quickly became a powerhouse in the sport and challenged the "blue bloods" of that time and historically. Some don't consider The U to be a blue blood like Alabama, Notre Dame, USC, Nebraska, etc ... yet Miami won four national championships in a nine year span and five titles in a 19 year span. So do you think UConn has deserved to be considered a true hoops blue blood?

Sportz' NCAA Tournament Recap - Final 4

Just a quick recap of what I saw in my Sportz Room -- filled with TVs that I can watch all games going on at the same time.

GAME OF THE DAY: San Diego State vs Florida Atlantic. FAU owned a sizable lead for most of the game, but the Aztecs chipped away and won the battle on a buzzer beating jumper. Florida Atlantic looked like their offense couldn't be stopped, but San Diego State did a fantastic job crashing the offensive boards and giving them second chances.

UPSET OF THE DAY: San Diego State vs Florida Atlantic.  Neither game was an upset, but this one qualifies just because it looked like FAU was cruising towards an unlikely spot in the national championship game. But San Diego State took their first lead since early in the game on that final shot to win the game.

CONFERENCE OF THE DAY: Mountain West. The first Mountain West team to ever reach the Final Four has stuck around and will play for a national championship on Monday Night.

CONFERENCE WITH A BAD DAY: Conference USA. Conference USA was a second away from being able to say that they would be playing for a championship, but Butler's shot went in. Now they can't even really bask in FAU's achievement as the Owls will be in the American Athletic Conference next season. Still, what FAU did this year ... financially ... stays in the C-USA.

DUD OF THE DAY: UConn vs Miami. UConn jumped out to a 13-point halftime lead and quickly mounted a 20-point lead in the second half. A big run by Miami got it down to eight at one point, but the Huskies made plays to keep out of harm's way.

DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: UConn vs Miami. UConn showed us one of the more dominating postseason runs ever. They recorded yet another double digit victory and enter the national championship game heavy favorites.

UNDERLYING STORYLINE OF THE DAY: UConn (almost) officially becoming a blue blood. The term "blue bloods" has been floated around all tournament long. North Carolina didn't reach the postseason. Duke, Kansas, Indiana and Kentucky didn't reach the second weekend of the tournament. UCLA was ousted by Gonzaga. UConn's place as a blue blood has been in question leading up to this moment and a win over San Diego State may stamp their application for membership. A win would give UConn their fifth national championship, which would tie Duke and Indiana for fourth most of all time. Only UCLA, Kentucky and North Carolina would have more titles .... and the Huskies would have won all five of their titles over the last 24 seasons. That's blue blood status if there ever was one.