There were 275 colleges that claimed Division I status for the 1984-85 season, when the NCAA expanded the field for its men's basketball tournament to 64.
There were 350 schools eligible for the D-I tournament this season, with another eight colleges (including St. Thomas) waiting out their apprenticeship to become eligible for what's now a 68-team tournament.
The opinion here is that more schools playing at a level they don't really belong makes for putrid entertainment to start most seasons, and for increasingly shoddy play over the three weeks of the Big Dance.
The endless number of options mean Big Ten schools such as Minnesota can gouge their dwindling numbers of customers with alleged D-I nonconference opponents that would lose by 15 to D-II Augustana (S.