The NCAA is hellbent on fundamentally changing one of the best events in sports even though nobody is asking for it. At this point, it appears that NCAA Tournament expansion is all but a formality.
The rumored expansion has been on the horizon for years as the NCAA looks to cash in on its cash cow. After it looked like expansion could happen as early as this season, that was quickly shelved. However, it’s now clearly back in play for the 2026-2027 campaign.
While college athletics burns all around it, the NCAA’s only answer is to squeeze whatever money they can out of the few things they still have control over – their lucrative basketball tournament.
According to a report from Ross Dellenger at On3, the rumored 76-team NCAA Tournament is “inching closer,” and it could be in place as soon as next season.
But how would expansion work logistically? The plans are for a whopping 12 play-in games across two days at two sites. This would be a massive increase from the four games that already take place in Dayton at the First Four.
The games would follow a similar format to what we see now, featuring a split between the bottom 12 at-large teams and the bottom 12 automatic qualifiers.
Expansion in this way would lead to more NCAA Tournament action, yes. Instead of the First Four being just a couple of games with not a ton of interest, the NCAA would truly be able to market these games as more like the beginning of the tournament. The Thursday and Friday of March Madness are arguably the two best days on the sporting calendar. With 12 games across two days, the flow of the play-in round would look and feel much more like the opening round.
But as we all know, it just wouldn’t be the same. The field would be further diluted beyond what it already is. The play-in round would be filled with power conference teams that should be in the NIT. Meanwhile, conference champions from smaller leagues won’t even get the true March Madness experience and have to go home early. At 12 teams, we’re talking all 15 and 16 seeds and even a couple 14 seeds taking part in a play-in round. Plenty of those teams have upset higher seeds in recent years, and now half of them won’t even get that opportunity.
From the NBA play-in games to the World Cup to extra wild card teams in the NFL and MLB, it’s all about expanding the postseason to create more inventory and more revenue. Once the 76-team tournament does come into fruition, it’s hard to imagine that it will actually turn people away from watching March Madness. And that’s all that matters to the NCAA.
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