What 76-team expanded NCAA Tournament would have looked like in 2026
2026 March Madness would have had quite a bit less controversy with a 76-team format, as NCAA Tournament expansion continues.
The expansion of the men's and women's NCAA Tournament has been a hot-button issue for fans, as the mentality of "more is more" continues to permeate ideas previously held sacrosanct. One such idea is the thought the tournament shouldn't expand 70-plus teams, one that is imminently going to be broken . As reported on April 28, March Madness is on the final runway to add eight teams for a grand total of 76, expanding for the first time since 2011 when the First Four was added to make it 68 from 65.
The change will be made for both men's and women's basketball, with a formal announcement anticipated in May. REQUIRED READING: NCAA Tournament set to expand to 76 teams. What will it look like?
The move, to take hold in 2027, continues the NCAA's trend of expansion in its biggest sports. Football moved from four teams to 12 beginning in 2024, and there has been more conversation around expansion since. For college basketball, however, the motivations are slightly different.
In theory, the expansion should favor mid-majors rather than the Big Ten and the SEC as football does. After all, conference commissioners and NCAA president Charlie Baker have stumped for the accessibility an expanded field would bring. "And so, from my point of view, the more teams we can get into the tournament and make it work logistically and mathematically, the better," Baker said in February, per ESPN.