Bracketology: On crack.

Dan Shanoff today has perhaps the greatest idea ever in all of sports, and maybe in all of anything. As the column is updated daily, I'll post the salient details for expanding the NCAA tourney to be truly perfect:

My only problem is that I think the floated proposal of doubling the field from 64 to 128 teams doesn't go far enough. My plan?

I call it "Ultimate Madness": Expand the field to include all teams.

Start with this: Modestly expand the current D-1 RPI listing of teams from 334 to 336 by promoting just two teams from Division 2. That makes the rest of the numbers work.

Then the fun begins, starting with the elimination of conference tournaments, replaced by something a lot more fun, exciting and fair:

Step 1: When the regular season ends, the top 32 teams in the country are seeded and given a bye into the classic 64-team "Big Dance." Earning a bye week is the incentive to play hard in the regular season.

(And we still have the drama of the "bubble" as teams jockey for a spot in this Top 32 field.)

Step 2: The leftover 304 teams are seeded into a "Little Dance," held during the 10 days previously reserved for Championship Week:

The weakest 64 play two preliminary games to find 16 teams to join the remaining 240, rounding out the 256-team "Little Dance" bracket. (Try that in your office pool!)

The benefits are obvious: Every fan enjoys a stake; smaller schools get way more exposure; big schools can prove they belong in the ultimate field of 64; revenue for TV partners and the NCAA would be astronomical.

Step 3: Within simply 3 games played over a week, this 256-team field is narrowed to 32, then seeded with the Top 32 teams into the conventional 64-team bracket we all know and love.

The Top 32 teams might be rested, but the "Other 32" have been battle-tested by anything from 3-5 games -- gaining momentum, generating fan buzz and finding chemistry that would lead to more Big Dance parity.

Step 4: Play the 64-team Big Dance as usual.

All of a sudden, every game is up for grabs: The traditional 16-vs.-1 game isn't the lock it used to be: Not when the 16th-seeded team is truly the 64th-best team in the country.