The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will not expand beyond 68 teams in 2026, but future growth remains on the radar.
“Expanding the tournament fields is no longer being contemplated for the 2026 men’s and women’s basketball championships,” Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball, said in a statement on Monday. “However, the committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2027 championships.”
NCAA President Charlie Baker has said adding teams could add value to the tournament, and he said the NCAA already has had “good conversations” with TV partners CBS and Warner Bros., whose deal runs through 2032 at the cost of around $1.1 billion a year.
The NCAA Tournament expanded from 64 to 68 teams in 2011. The change introduced the First Four round, a set of pre-tournament games in which the four lowest-seeded at-large teams and four lowest-seeded conference champions compete for spots in the traditional 64-team bracket.
Baker indicated in May that the current formula has flaws and said it would be beneficial to give more opportunities to worthy teams.
“If you have a tournament that’s got 64 or 68 teams in it, you’re going to have a bunch of teams that are probably among what most people would consider to be the best 68 or 70 teams in the country that aren’t going to make the tournament, period,” Baker said then. “The point behind going from 68 to 72 or 76 is to basically give some of those schools that were probably among the 72, 76, 68, 64 best teams in the country a way into the tournament.”
Coaches have expressed different opinions about an expanded bracket. Tom Izzo, Nate Oats and Dan Hurley have indicated they like the field at 68 but Texas coach Sean Miller told CBS Sports he wouldn’t mind expansion.
“Never before has the tournament felt more even, with few exceptions,” Miller said. “On any given night in a 40-minute game, it’s just amazing what can happen. I think adding depth to that will only make what’s already good even better.”
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said the league backs expansion “but you just don’t jump into it.”
“So, if there are reasons from a broadcast point, a financial point, logistics point or competitive realities that don’t support expansion, again, we’re going to be fine,” he said at SEC football media days last month.” But I think this is the right direction to at least explore.”
Kansas coach Bill Self said fellow Big 12 coaches seem to favor an NCAA tourney expansion. The Big 12 had seven bids in 2025, half the total of the SEC.
“There was a little bit that was brought forth and the consensus among the coaches, even though it was very little, would be in favor of that,” he said earlier this year. “I don’t know if you could make it where it was totally equitable all the way across the board for everybody.”
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
