[paloalto]

Match play is a crap shoot

A crap shoot, yes; but riveting theater.  I doubt the NCAA and TV guys are regretting this format.

Yes, both the FSU and Northwestern matches were equally riveting theater although Stanford fans were not happy about the final result of the Northwestern match.

One could describe the NCAA tournament for men's and women's basketball as a crap shoot.  There are frequent upsets and the best team based on regular season stats often doesn't win the NC.

 

It’s not the fact that there are upsets that make the current version of the NCAA golf tournaments a crap shoot. 
It seems to me the more apt analogy would be if, instead of playing actual basketball games like every team had all season and in the first four rounds of post season, the basketball Final Fours consisted of free throw shooting contests.

I don't follow your analogy.  In the NCAA golf tournament they weren't playing some subset of the sport.  They weren't only putting on the greens or only teeing off.

[paloalto]

Match play is a crap shoot

A crap shoot, yes; but riveting theater.  I doubt the NCAA and TV guys are regretting this format.

Yes, both the FSU and Northwestern matches were equally riveting theater although Stanford fans were not happy about the final result of the Northwestern match.

One could describe the NCAA tournament for men's and women's basketball as a crap shoot.  There are frequent upsets and the best team based on regular season stats often doesn't win the NC.

 

It’s not the fact that there are upsets that make the current version of the NCAA golf tournaments a crap shoot. 
It seems to me the more apt analogy would be if, instead of playing actual basketball games like every team had all season and in the first four rounds of post season, the basketball Final Fours consisted of free throw shooting contests.

I don't follow your analogy.  In the NCAA golf tournament they weren't playing some subset of the sport.  They weren't only putting on the greens or only teeing off.