The NCAA is working toward expansion of the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams for next season, with hopes of finalizing a plan next month.
ESPN reported on Tuesday that the NCAA was initiating the final steps of expansion, but multiple people involved in expansion talks told The Athletic on Tuesday that there are still several key steps remaining to get a deal done.
“Expanding the basketball tournaments would require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, and no final recommendation or decisions have been made at this time,” the NCAA said in a statement.
The framework, though, has come together, and the number being targeted is 76. Eight more at-large teams would be added to the field, and the First Four opening round, currently held in Dayton, Ohio, would be expected to grow from four games to 12, with an additional host site added.
Which teams play in those opening-round games also still needs to be determined, but the current mix of the lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the final at-large selections is the preferred choice of television partners.
Using the NCAA’s NET ranking to add eight more at-large teams to this year’s 68-team field and the current selection process, the opening round for a hypothetical 76-team tournament in 2026 would have looked something like this:
If the 2026 tournament had 76 teams
No. 11 NC State (ACC)
No. 11 Texas (SEC)
No. 11 SMU (ACC)
No. 11 Miami (Ohio) (MAC)
No. 11 Auburn (SEC)
No. 11 Indiana (Big Ten)
No. 11 New Mexico (Mountain West)
No. 11 Oklahoma (SEC)
No. 12 San Diego State (Mountain West)
No. 12 Cincinnati (Big 12)
No. 12 Tulsa (American)
No. 12 Seton Hall (Big East)
No. 15 Wright State (Horizon)
No. 15 Kennesaw State (CUSA)
No. 15 Tennessee State (OVC)
No. 15 Idaho (Big Sky)
No. 16 Furman (Southern)
No. 16 Queens (ASun)
No. 16 Siena (MAAC)
No. 16 LIU (NEC)
No. 16 Howard (MEAC)
No. 16 UMBC (America East)
No. 16 Lehigh (Patriot)
No. 16 Prairie View A&M (SWAC)
The power conferences started the push for a bigger field for the association’s crown jewel event and money maker more than a year ago. There really is no opposition to expansion among Division I membership, and NCAA president Charlie Baker has been a vocal advocate for it.
The only obstacles have been working out logistics and figuring out a way to pay for staging more games and transporting more teams around the country. The NCAA still has six years left on a television rights deal with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery that pays more than $900 million annually.
The networks are not on the hook to pay for more games, but the NCAA and its partners have been exploring ways to unlock more revenue through sponsorships and advertising sales.
Expansion would only be approved if additional costs can be covered without any loss of revenue that the NCAA distributes to the 32 Division I conferences.
This expansion would be the largest for the men’s tournament since 1985, when the field grew from 53 teams to 64. Since then, the tournament’s popularity has soared on the back of its iconic bracket.
In 2011 the men’s field grew to 68 and the First Four was created, which put two games each on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The women’s tournament added a First Four in 2022.
