Teel: Who would benefit from expanding NCAA basketball tournament?

“My team deserved a higher seed!”

“We have to play THEM?!”

But the most common and loudest refrains echo from those not among the field’s at-large selections.

This timeless lament will endure until — God forbid — the NCAA includes every Division I team, 362 and counting, in the men’s tournament. And the carping certainly will continue if those managing the sport expand the event from 68 teams to 72 or 76.

Percolating for years, the notion has gathered momentum as four power conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC — have mushroomed to a combined 68 schools. Commissioners want more of their teams competing and, presumably, cashing in on tournament riches.

Whether the NCAA’s television partners, CBS and Turner, are willing to pay more than the current $1.1 billion annual price tag remains to be seen, but as Yahoo Sports first reported, NCAA officials Wednesday unveiled 72- and 76-team models at a Florida gathering of Division I commissioners.

These are the most palatable and realistic expansions of a tournament that is darn-near perfect and captivates us for three blissful weeks each year. Adding 2-4 games on Tuesday and Wednesday of the tournament’s opening week, when the First Four doubleheaders are staged in Dayton, Ohio, would preserve the current calendar and not terribly compromise the bracket.

So the question becomes: Which programs and conferences might benefit most from expansion? Mid-majors such as the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West? The power brokers at the ACC, Big East, Big 12, SEC and Big Ten?

Since 2012, the NCAA has revealed the four teams that were the last excluded from the field, giving us a dozen tournaments — the 2020 edition was canceled — to project some answers.

Of the 48 near-misses, only 29 hailed from power conferences, including the dearly departed Pac-12. I say “only” because those leagues accounted for a far larger share of at-large bids, 28 of 36, in this year’s field, and 31 of 36 the season prior.

Selection Sunday heartbreak has struck not only royals such as North Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana but also commoners such as Monmouth, UNC Greensboro and Green Bay.

Seventeen of the 32 Division I conferences have had a team among what the NCAA calls “the first four out.” Three squads from the commonwealth — Virginia in 2013, plus Richmond and Old Dominion in 2015 — have felt the sting of almost.