There have been some whispers about the NCAA looking to expand the Basketball Tournament from the current format of 68 teams. Remember when the field was just 64? Now, the NCAA is looking to add more teams to the field.
Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports and On3 reported on Tuesday morning that there are serious talks about expanding the field as soon as the 2026-27 season to 76 teams. That would be adding eight more teams to a tournament that already feels like it is overloaded with teams now, with 68. Again, remember the days of just 64 teams?
Originally, there was talk about expanding the field to 72 teams, but with 76, it would give fans eight "Opening Round Games" that would be played across multiple sites across the country, not just Dayton. You can bet TV will have a big say in this.
NCAA Tournament expansion to 76 teams feels like too many
How many times have you heard this, 'If it's not broken, don't fix it'? That is the case with the NCAA Basketball Tournament; it's not broken, so there's no need to fix it. Money is clearly a major driving force for this, but right now, it seems like the field is a bit watered down with the current format. Adding eight more teams would water it down even more.
There are gripes now around the country from teams who either on the bubble and missed it or were too far down the pecking order and missed. Guess what? You are going to get the same gripes if you expand the field to 76, 84, or 96 teams. Someone is going to have a problem that they were left out and will gripe about it.
Some things are not meant to be touched, and the NCAA Basketball Tournament currently constructed is one of them. The path for Mike Young and Virginia Tech is potentially easier to the NCAA Tournament.