The NCAA DI men’s basketball tournament has changed over the years since starting in 1939, from an eight-team field in the first year to the new, 76-team field for 2027.
1939 — 8 teams
Oregon topped Ohio State in Evanston, Illinois on Northwestern’s campus in the first championship game.
1951 — 16 teams
The bracket expanded for the first time, going up to 16 teams. Ten conference champions qualified automatically for the first time: Big Seven, Big Ten, Border, Eastern (Ivy), Missouri Valley, Pacific Coast, Skyline, Southeastern, Southern and Southwest
1953 — 22 teams
The tournament field expanded again to 22 teams in 1953. The field size fluctuated between 22 and 25 teams until the 1975 tournament.
1975 — 32 teams
The 32-team bracket is implemented. For the first time, teams other than conference champions could be selected as at-large teams, though no conference could have more than two teams. Sixteen teams qualified automatically as conference champions, while four more were champions from regional tournaments. The other 12 teams were at-large selections.
1978 — Seeding begins
The bracket remained 32 teams, but a seeding system was used for the first time. A maximum of four automatic qualifying conference teams were seeded in each of the four regional brackets.
1979 — 40 teams
All teams are seeded for the first time with the bracket growing to 40. Twenty-four teams received a bye into the second round.
1980 — 48 teams
There are now 24 automatic qualifiers and 24 at-large selections. The top 16 seeds also received byes to the second round. This was also the first tournament with no restrictions on the number of selections from one conference.
1983 — 52 teams
Eight automatic qualifying conferences played for four spots in the bracket. The top 16 seeded teams still received byes to the second round.
1984 — 53 teams
With an additional opening round game, 10 automatic qualifying conferences faced off for five spots in the 48-team bracket.
1985 — 64 teams
With the expansion to 64 teams, there are no more first round byes. Villanova upset Georgetown to win the title, becoming the lowest seed at No. 8 to win. The title game is the last game played without a shot clock.
2001 — 65 teams
With 31 conferences now eligible to receive automatic bids, an opening round game was added on the Tuesday before the first and second rounds. The game would have the teams seeded No. 64 and No. 65, with the winner facing a No. 1 seed in the first round.
2011 — 68 teams
The tournament expands again, this time to 68 teams. This meant the beginning of the First Four, which set up games between the last four teams on the overall seed list (Nos. 65-68) and the last four at-large selections. VCU, one of the First Four teams, beats No. 11 USC (First Four), No. 6 Georgetown, No. 3 Purdue, No. 10 Florida State and No. 1 Kansas to advance to the Final Four.
2027 — 76 teams
The latest expansion adds eight more teams, increasing the number of games prior to the 64-team bracket to 12 games. Twenty-four teams will face off for 12 spots played on Tuesday and Wednesday before the first round. The 24 teams will be made up of the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams.
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