COMMENTARY : Extend an Open Invitation to NCAA’s Party : College basketball: An all-inclusive Division I tournament might help to clean up the sport.

Cal State Northridge is moving from Division II to Division I in basketball next season, its first step toward a possible meeting with Duke, Louisville or some other powerhouse in the Final Four.

Can you imagine the Matadors someday playing Nevada Las Vegas for the national title?

Neither can I.

Especially not under the NCAA tournament’s current format, in which just 64 teams are invited to go after the glass slipper that television stuffs with millions of dollars.

This is one case where college basketball could definitely use a fix.

If the NCAA wants to create some real March Madness, it should stage a tournament that the entire nation can get involved with by inviting all 290 Division I member institutions.

The road to the Final Four should truly be a national interstate, passing through every town in America that is home to a Division I program.

The NCAA sees itself as an organization seeking to uphold integrity, fairness and sportsmanship in college athletics. But, in most cases, subjectively selecting at-large entries to fill out the current 64-team field keeps the little guys out and allows the rich to get richer: Witness the Big Ten Conference’s record seven representatives this season.

If, however, the NCAA opened the tournament to everyone and divided equally among all Division I schools the $1 billion pie CBS will pay over the next seven seasons to broadcast the tournament, it could do more to clean up college basketball than 1,000 investigators.

“If you did that, there would be less chance for infractions and violations because every school would know it has a shot to get in,” Northridge Athletic Director Bob Hiegert said.

Most basketball fans know that, regardless of the format, schools such as Duke, Nevada Las Vegas, Georgia Tech and Arkansas probably will still end up hooping it up in the Final Four almost every year.

But that’s not why office Xerox machines were working overtime a few weeks ago when the tournament brackets were released.

March Madness is at its peak during the early rounds of the tournament. All-knowing fans and those who know nothing at all enter office pools because of Towson State, Murray State and Ball State and the unpredictability that schools such as these bring to the party. Everybody starts the tournament with a shot at winning the pot of gold--just like in the office pool. In both forums, it takes as much luck as it does skill.

Starting the tournament with every Division I team would only add, at most, three regional rounds to the current format that would take no longer than a week to play.

Expanding the field to include all Division I member institutions also makes sense because it:

* Eliminates debate about which conferences deserve automatic bids and who gets into the tournament as an at-large entry.

Cal State Long Beach and other schools took it on the chin from the NCAA selection committee this year and others will be similarly knocked out next season in favor of bigger draws such as Notre Dame.

Conference championships would still be important--perhaps even more so--because conference winners could gain seedings and/or byes for the first few rounds. An all-inclusive format also would forever rid the sport of ridiculous postseason conference tournaments.

* Makes it easier, financially, for schools to eliminate regular-season mismatches.

With a guaranteed tournament berth, every school could easily drop one or two of its meaningless preconference contests. Georgetown, can you hear me?

No longer would the Hoyas have to play mighty St. Leo College for fear of having a less-than-stellar overall record and being overlooked come tournament time.

* Creates greater interest in college basketball.

Every coach in the nation could guarantee a recruit--and the fans and alumni--exposure in the NCAA tournament and a chance to play for the national title.

Winning such a tournament might not become a reality, but it does, at the very least, create the possibility and give every student-athlete and team an equal opportunity to reach their fullest potential.

And isn’t that one of the goals of higher education?