Echoing previous sentiments concerning future NCAA Tournament expansion, former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is not in favor of adding more teams to March Madness, which could dilute college basketball’s best product.
For now, expansion talks at the NCAA level are paused until the 68-team NCAA Tournament later this month is over. NCAA president Charlie Baker told CBS Sports last month he was in favor of expansion.
“There are less teams capable right now than ever before and there’s many have nots and it’s not their fault,” Krzyzewski said Monday on The Field of 68. “I don’t think you mess with something that’s gold. It’s gold. I think the thing you should mess with is getting a leadership group and having them study and see what happens with that group.
“Not just one person. Actually, they should run it like the NBA, a staff and all that … run it like a business. I wouldn’t mess with gold right now and the NCAA Tournament is certainly that.”
If the NCAA Tournament does expand in 2027 or beyond, Baker said last month the current 32-team automatic-qualifier format will not change. The adoption of additional at-large spots? It’s a possibility.
“That leaves 36 spots,” Baker said. “That means you’re going to leave a bunch of the top 50 teams out of the tournament, right? … I mean, couple years ago I was kind of bummed when Seton Hall and Indiana State didn’t get in the tournament, because they both had quality wins and quality schedules. … The more you do to create opportunities for the so-called bubble teams each year to get into the tournament, first of all, it puts some other really good teams that probably might belong there.
“But it also protects the AQs, right? Because I don’t want to end up in a situation where people say we need to do something about the AQs because we’re keeping too many good teams out of the tournament.”
Krzyzewski won five national titles at Duke over 13 Final Four appearances during his illustrious tenure. The coaching legend won 15 ACC tournament championships and 13 ACC regular season titles as the league’s most decorated leader of all time.
Many of college basketball’s storied coaches have mixed feelings on NCAA Tournament expansion. While former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has advocated for the inclusion of more teams, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has said he’s unsure if that would be healthy for the sport.
UConn’s Dan Hurley, who has won two national championships with the Huskies, said in 2023 after capturing a title that expansion would devalue the regular season.
Kansas coach Bill Self addressed the idea before the season in October, pushing back on more teams — and games.
“You know, I would say my initial hunch would probably be no, but I thought it was no when we went from 48 to 54, and then no when you go from 54 to 64, and no when you go from 64 to 68 … you know, all that stuff,” Self said. “Going to 76, if I’m not mistaken, is basically adding four more games to the Dayton-type setup, if I’m not mistaken. And so, now, it’s a Tuesday game for a Thursday game, or a Wednesday game for a Friday game, if I’m not mistaken.”
Per CBS Sports’ latest Bracketology, the eight teams on this season’s NCAA Tournament bubble include TCU, Santa Clara, New Mexico and VCU as the last four in with California, Auburn, San Diego State and Seton Hall seated on the cut line.
