NCAA Tournament expansion was inevitable and on Thursday afternoon, it became official as the decision to expand the NCAA Tournament field to 76 teams was unanimously passed. Indiana head coach Darian DeVries, who just missed the Tournament in his first season, discussed the idea of expansion.
“We just roll with what they tell us the rules are. So the expansion is what it is.” DeVries said on a Zoom conference on Thursday morning. “It went from 64 to 68 now we’re going from 68 to 76 and people will be on both sides of where they like it, don’t like it. But, I think for all of us we love the opportunity to get in there, and we’ll see how it plays out and what that looks like when, if they indeed do officially put it in play.”
The Hoosiers have only two NCAA Tournament appearances since 2016, but would have made it most of those years had the field been bigger.
What Does NCAA Expansion Look Like
The expansion from 68 to 76 teams does not touch the first weekend of the Tournament. Instead, it expands what was the ‘First Four’
The 76-team brackets will feature an automatic qualifier from each conference, along with the best at-large teams selected by the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees. The lowest-seeded 12 automatic qualifiers as seeded by the committees will play in half of the Opening Round games, while the other six games will feature the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams. Teams will continue to be paired to face the closest opponent next to them on the committees’ overall seed lists, which serves to seed all 76 tournament teams. For example, seed 75 may play seed 76 in one Opening Round game, while the lowest-seeded at-large team selected to the field may face the second-to-lowest-seeded at-large team. Exceptions could be made, for example, to avoid a regular-season rematch or for geographic purposes. The committee will use existing principles and procedures to avoid teams from the same conference playing one another in the Opening Round and in the round of 64 where possible. — NCAA.com
Why The NCAA Expanded the Tournament
The NCAA says that this move will generate more access and more revenues for member schools.
“Providing additional access to the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships for Division I programs will be incredibly meaningful, especially to the student-athletes of the eight additional men’s and women’s programs that receive these coveted bids,” said NCAA Board of Governors Chair Jim Phillips, commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference in the NCAA release. “The leadership by President Charlie Baker as well as Dan Gavitt, Lynn Holzman and JoAn Scott has been outstanding. We also appreciate the support of our broadcast partners and corporate champions and partners in making this a reality.”
The NCAA also said it would benefit fans of college basketball with better matchups to watch.
“The expanded Opening Round for the NCAA tournaments will now feature 12 automatic qualifiers and 12 total at-large teams, resulting in highly competitive matchups and greater access to the opportunity to compete for the championship for the eight new at-large bids,” said Division I Men’s Basketball Committee Chair Keith Gill, commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference. “During the last two years of the tournaments, men’s and women’s teams seeded 15 or 16 are winless in 32 first-round games. Moving forward nearly half of the 28 men’s and women’s teams seeded on the 15 and 16 lines will win at least one tournament game. March Madness is the best postseason in all of sports, and this new format will continue that legacy by producing even more compelling games for fans and student-athletes.”
Read the Full NCAA Release Here
The new format will be implemented for the 2027 tournament for both the men and women.
