Seems like the NCAA generally gets it right. Also by having the tourney it actually does lend some credence to the regular season, especially to the teams coming out of the "lesser" Conferences where a trip to the tourney is their reward for having a great season.
The early round upsets that you despise is what makes the tourney magical and fun - and in the end those cinderalla's end up losing eventually and the big boys are left to decide the champion.
admittedly they do get a lot of #1 seeds into the final 4 and as the champion.
But look at the games that happen to get there... 1 vs. 16 nonsense... play in games that have no value.
And based on your graph no team lower than an 8 seed has won the tournament.. so we can pretty safely move it back to a 32 team tournament without denying ANYONE the
opportunity to win the tournament and then do best of 3's and forgo the baloney.
You're denying teams from small conferences the chance to play in the tournament
It will make the NIT tournament significantly more meaningful.
A tournament shouldn't be about the things you are talking about.
A tournament should be designed to award the best team the title as often as is possible (no system is perfect, and nothing can fully account for injuries and stuff).
But here's the thing, the tournament still isn't about the things you are talking about - giving the little guy a chance... it's about money.
And for whatever reason all the fake college basketball fans that just fill out their bracket and show up in March to watch on TV get massive erections when a 14 seed beats a 3 seed because their 3 point shooter went 10/12 behind the line when he was crazy hot.
So the mass viewers find that kind of thing enjoyable, when in reality you've just denied a team that's worked very hard all year long to get a great seed in the tournament.. and for one, that 14 seed should be in the NIT, and for 2, it should be a best of 3 (at a minimum) because in any one basketball game anything can happen, and now you've compromised the tournament for all but the majority of viewers who prefer the upsets and carnage for the sake of their almighty bracket.
So the system won't change.. it'll get to 128 teams before they take my advice and do 16-32 teams. But make no mistake about it, it's not the best way to run a tournament, nor does it reward the best team as often as it should... but since Joe Bracket likes it and it draws viewers and money, that's the way it will be forever.