Will NCAA Tournament soon expand? Here’s what Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark says
Put Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark down as voting “yes” in favor of a larger NCAA Tournament field.
“I’m in favor of expansion to 76,” Yormark said as the Big 12 Tournament was getting underway at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. “I think that’s the right number.”
Speculation on expanding the 68-team bracket for the annual men’s basketball tourney was fueled earlier this season, when NCAA senior vice-president of basketball Dan Gavitt said “committees are giving it more consideration than at any other time in my 10-plus years at the NCAA.”
Since then, Gavitt has backed off some, telling CBS Sports, “I couldn’t predict as I sit here today what the outcome is going to be.”
But expansion to 72 or 76 appears to be favored by some major conferences. A larger tournament would mean two or four additional games that, if fitted into the current schedule, would be played during the short period between Selection Sunday and the beginning of the 64-team tournament on Thursday.
That could mean three or four Opening Round games on Tuesday and Wednesday that now are broadcast on truTV. The current contract with CBS and TNT runs through April, 2032.
A consideration for expansion is the expense of additional schools, which would earn units of revenue for making and advancing in the tournament. Will the TV partners pay for more inventory?
A decision for the 2026 tournament structure would have to be made by early May.
“There will be some decisions made over the next 60, 90 days,” Yormark said.
If the tournament expands, the bubble drops. This year’s bubble teams — such as North Carolina, Texas and Indiana — would feel safe they’re likely making the tournament.
The field has been at 68 since 2013. The biggest expansion came in 1985, when the event grew from 53 to 64 teams. It had been 32 teams just seven years earlier.