NCAA men's and women's selection committees agree to expand NCAA tournament to 76 teams

The NCAA believes bigger is better when it comes to March Madness . The organization will expand both the men’s and women’s college basketball tournament to include 76 teams, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. Both the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball selection committees have approved the move, per Dellenger.

The motion still needs to be approved by the basketball oversight committees and the Di Board of Directors and Board of Governors, but that’s expected. The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball selection committees have approved the expansion of the NCAA tournaments to 76 teams, sources tell @YahooSports . The basketball oversight committees are expected now to approve, followed by the DI Board of Directors and Board of Governors.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 7, 2026 The report ends months of rumors suggesting tournament expansion was on the horizon. In early April, a source told Dellenger tournament expansion “ will happen . ” On Thursday, that proved to be true.

While those rumors were rampant for months, the NCAA released a statement in late April throwing cold water on reports suggesting expansion was finalized. In that statement, the NCAA said any expansion would need to be approved by multiple committees, and that no decisions had been “ made at this time . ” “Expanding the basketball tournaments would require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men's and women's basketball committees, and no final recommendations or decisions have been made at this time.