The NCAA Tournament still has 68 teams – for now.
The NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball committees met this week to discuss possible expansion of the NCAA Tournament beyond its current 68-team format. Staying at 68 or expanding to 72 or 76 teams before 2026 or 2027 was on the table, but ultimately nothing was decided, NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said Thursday.
“The NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball committees met this week, with the men’s meeting taking place in Savannah and the women’s meeting in Philadelphia,” Gavitt said in a statement. “The topic of expanding the field for each championship has been discussed at length but no decisions or recommendations have been made. Outcomes that are still viable include maintaining tournaments at 68 teams or expanding the field to 72 or 76 teams before the 2026 or 2027 championships.”
Tournament expansion has been a hot topic for several years. The NCAA increased the number of teams from 64 to 68 in 2011 with the creation of the First Four. The women’s tournament has also expanded to 68 teams in 2022.
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The future expansion of the tournament has been the subject of much debate, with public opinion largely appearing to oppose the idea. Nonetheless, NCAA and conference leaders continued to discuss the possibility with their media partners. Even NCAA President Charlie Baker said he ‘sees value’ in expanded field.
Although there is no official deadline for the committees to make a decision, Baker told Yahoo Sports last month, a decision on whether to expand the tournaments for 2026 was expected to be made by mid-August.
Gavitt told CBS Sports in February that many financial factors come into play, including the revenue distributed to participating schools. The more teams added to the tournament, the less money there is to share per school.
“Expansion, even at a modest level, is complex, more complex, I think, than has been recognized and reported, because it is expensive,” Gavitt said. “This is expensive due to additional team travel, per diems, game operations, but also basketball performance funds, units that are earned throughout the men’s and women’s basketball championships.
