The NCAA is finalizing plans to expand both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams, according to sources who spoke with ESPN.
Sources said the process has reached its final stages, with NCAA committee calls on Thursday expected to represent the last formal step toward approval. Completion of the expansion process could occur as early as that day.
Last week, we reported that the NCAA had begun the final steps to move both tournaments from 68 to 76 beginning with the 2027 editions. The discussions about expansion had been ongoing for well over a year, according to sources.
The media deal for the men’s tournament was identified as one of the final hurdles after meetings with NCAA officials in late April. Sources described the process as having little expected resistance within NCAA committees, given that the issue has been debated and discussed for months to help streamline the final stages.
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Formal approval must come from several NCAA bodies. These include the men’s and women’s basketball committees, the men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees, the Division I cabinet, and the Division I board of governors.
The expansion marks a substantial change to one of the most well-known events in American sports. The men’s tournament expansion would become the largest since the event expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Following that 1985 change, a single team was added in 2001, while three more were added in 2011. This coming increase to 76 teams represents an additional eight at-large bids.
The change will also alter the format of the tournament’s early week schedule. Tuesday and Wednesday of the men’s tournament will feature 12 games played by 24 teams across two sites, reflecting the inclusion of the eight new at-large programs.
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Dayton, Ohio, is expected to host one of the two locations, continuing its long-standing role in the early portion of the tournament, where the First Four contests have traditionally taken place. The second site has not yet been determined but will be located outside of the Eastern Time zone to address travel and operational logistics.
Nearly one-third of the teams in the men’s field will play either Tuesday or Wednesday under this new structure. The 24 participating programs will compete to advance into the traditional framework.
The conventional 64-team bracket remains scheduled to begin early Thursday under the new plan, and it is expected to maintain the same appearance and operation as previous versions.
The NCAA’s formalization meetings this week represent the conclusion of an effort that has already stretched through multiple rounds of planning. Sources indicated that the debate and committee review process had taken place over several months, aligning the expansion’s timing with recent administrative and media discussions.
When completed, this move will finalize the process of adding eight teams to each of the tournaments starting with the 2027 editions, creating 76-team competitions for both the men’s and women’s championships.
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