The largest unique elimination tournament in America can be extended to the number of teams that coincides with the year of birth of America.
On3 Ross Dellenger reports thatAlthough an agreement is not yet finalized, the leaders of the NCAA progress to the one who will see a passage of 68 teams in the March Madness field at 76 – not the 72 which had been discussed previously. This structure would lead to eight additional matches in the Big Dance, from 2026-2027, to a season from now on.
Advertisement
“This new opening round includes 24 teams playing in 12 games during the two days, with six games each on two sites (Dayton, the current house of the first four, plus another Western location probably more focused on basketball),” explains Dellenger. “The people involved in the negotiations that many of this could change throughout the interviews with the television partners Warner Bros. Discovery and CBS. For the moment, this is the plan. “
The new format will include 12 automatic qualifications with a lower head and 12 selections in general with eight extracts from the main support and eight choices in general added thanks to the expansion, now adding a game of play to reach the 64 field.
Don’t worry. If you are confused, you are not alone.
But hey, no more basketball in March Madness? I’m not saying no to that.
Advertisement
The president of the NCAA, Charlie Baker, wants the 32 automatic qualifications to enter as always, but others on the bubble and just outside also deserve.
“Each year there are very good teams who do not reach the tournament for a lot of reasons,” he said. “One of the reasons is that we have 32 automatic qualifications (for the conference champions). I love it and I think it’s great and never wants it to change, but it means that there are only 36 slots for everyone. I do not buy the idea that some of the teams that are currently left are not good. I think they are. And I think it sucks.”
It will be interesting to see what this new format looks like in 2026-2027 if it comes to competition.
