Defending the Kingdom

There was a time, about a month ago, when it looked like North Carolina might not even make it to March Madness. This isn’t the case anymore, as UNC is now ranked 15^th and has pretty much locked-in a spot. However, what would the tourney have been like without the ‘Heels, the defending national champions?

I think that it should be made mandatory that the reigning champion has one of the 65 slots in the tournament, even if they are stuck with the play-in game. In the pro’s, it’s not uncommon for a team to win the championship, and then dismantle their whole team (cough, Florida Marlins, cough cough). When a team doesn’t make it to the playoffs the next year, it’s usually not the same team at all, so they shouldn't have the right to defend their championship. There are rarely more than a handful of players from the previous years team. That’s not the case in college though. Teams hold on to a good chunk of their players, and even those that leave, it’s not like they go to another team. They leave completely. They were the champions the year before, and even if they might have a slump, it should be their right to defend their title. Just as all the conferences get an automatic bid, the defending champion should “win” an automatic bid for the next year along with their championship run.