ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Tuesday that the NCAA is finalizing a plan to expand the men's and women's basketball tournaments to 76 teams each, according to NCAA sources, with plan approval and an announcement expected by mid-May and with the plan to take effect immediately for the 2026-27 season.
The primary structural change would make the current First Four play-in games the First 12 — 24 teams vying for 12 spots.
The NCAA claims the move is being made to satisfy more at-large bids for the power conferences, due to expansion, and that the additional TV revenue from contracts currently being renegotiated would provide only a small profit, with the rest going toward offsetting the costs of the first 12 games.
My take: It's about the money ... maybe not in 2026, but in the future when they renegotiate the TV deals. There's nothing virtuous about this. Just dilutes the product all the way around. Adding eight teams to the women's game? Good grief.
THE ASYLUM
NCAA fields to 76 teams
ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Tuesday that the NCAA is finalizing a plan to expand the men's and women's basketball tournaments to 76 teams each, according to NCAA sources, with plan approval and an announcement expected by mid-May and with the plan to take effect immediately for the 2026-27 season.
The primary structural change would make the current First Four play-in games the First 12 — 24 teams vying for 12 spots.
The NCAA claims the move is being made to satisfy more at-large bids for the power conferences, due to expansion, and that the additional TV revenue from contracts currently being renegotiated would provide only a small profit, with the rest going toward offsetting the costs of the first 12 games.
My take: It's about the money ... maybe not in 2026, but in the future when they renegotiate the TV deals. There's nothing virtuous about this. Just dilutes the product all the way around. Adding eight teams to the women's game? Good grief.
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