The NCAA seems hellbent on expanding the men’s NCAA Tournament, even though it would dilute what is currently one of the best sporting events on the planet.
College athletics’ governing body has been circling around the expansion topic for years, chasing more berths in the NCAA Tournament for more schools. More NCAA Tournament games also means more television windows and more opportunities to create revenue for what is the NCAA’s cash cow.
And according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, that expansion could come sooner rather than later.
This week, Thamel reported that NCAA Tournament expansion could come as soon as this coming season. And that the NCAA is currently in conversations with current rights partners CBS Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery on the logistics of making it happen.
A decision on whether or not to expand the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be made in the upcoming weeks, sources told ESPN.
If the decision is made to expand, the expansion would begin in the 2025-26 season, per sources, and the tournament would expand to no more than 76 teams. Sources have indicated to ESPN for months that 76 is the more likely expansion option than 72, as the current format for the men’s and women’s tournament is 68 teams.
The NCAA remains in talks with its media partners about the potential expansion, which have been ongoing for months.
Interestingly, those rights partners are the ones who have voiced caution over expanding the NCAA Tournament. CBS Sports president David Berson said in March, “This is an event that captivates the country for three weeks every year. There’s nothing, nothing like March Madness. So as they’re looking to see if there are tweaks to be made, I think everyone’s just being really diligent and smart and careful. Because while we might want to enhance it given the change in the college landscape that can justify expanding by a few teams, no one wants to do anything that’s going to take away from how special this tournament is. And I think that’s really where the focus is.”
A diluted, expanded NCAA Tournament to 76 teams means eight more teams get in, which accounts for four more play-in games. As to how the NCAA might pull it off, they could do what would amount to a mini-first round on Monday or Tuesday where play-in games take place throughout the entire day at two regional sites instead of what we have seen in recent years where the games are played in primetime in Dayton. Alternatively, you could see simultaneous games played in primetime on different networks much like we see during Sweet 16 coverage.
However, instead of the thrill of watching the actual tournament itself, it’s still going to feel like a play-in with the likelihood that it will be more small conference champions and bubble teams from major conferences that are flirting with a .500 record. While it might lead to more revenue and more opportunities, it will hurt the quality of the overall product. But clearly the NCAA decided a long time ago that even March Madness is worth the sacrifice.