While the NCAA has yet to make a decision regarding the expansion of the NCAA Tournament, it left the door open for change in the near future.
The tournament could keep its current 68-team format or move to a new outlook featuring 72 or 76 teams.
“The topic of expanding the field for each championship was discussed at length but no decision or recommendation was made,” NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said in a statement, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander. “The still viable outcomes include the tournaments remaining at 68 teams or expanding the fields to either 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2026 or 2027 championships.”
Norlander reported last June that the NCAA presented models for 72 and 76-team tournaments to Division I conference commissioners, and Gavitt said in February that a decision could be made in the “coming months.”
But with no decision yet made, expansion might have to wait until after the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
According to Norlander, deciding on expanding the tournament as early as 2026 “felt like a necessary step to achieve this week.” Gavitt also previously told Norlander that action to expand the tournament likely would have been required in the spring.
Considering no change has been made with the college basketball season just around the corner, it seems increasing the number of teams in the tournament could have to wait until at least 2027.
The NCAA Men’s Tournament consisted of 64 teams from 1985 until 2011, when it expanded to 68 teams, which is its current format. The updated format brought the addition of the “First Four,” which is essentially a play-in tournament featuring the four lowest-seeded at-large teams and the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers.
The women’s tournament moved to 68 teams in 2022.
With a 72 or 76-team tournament, it’s unclear exactly how the field would be decided. It would likely add on to the “First Four” and have lower-seeded teams play their way into the Big Dance.
Like most decisions in college sports, the prospect of an expanded tournament has been met with hesitancy, both from fans and Division I leaders, hence the lack of a decision regarding a bigger tournament.
There are arguments to be made for both expansion and leaving the tournament as is. The biggest argument for an expanded tournament is that it would include deserving teams that otherwise would have been left out of the 68-team tournament.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi noted that West Virginia, Indiana, Boise State and Ohio State likely would have made the cut in 2025 had the tournament consisted of 72 teams.
It seems inevitable that the tournament will expand at some point, but how many teams and when remain the biggest questions.