The NCAA Tournament is expanding. Apparently to the powers that be, 68 teams wasn’t enough diversity of teams in the tournament field so it’s essentially been approved that the field will expand to 76 teams as early as next year. What has happened to the game we love? Money, greed and the need to feel like everybody deserves a spot. There aren’t any real logical reasons for expansion, but like it not, it’s coming.
The Michigan Wolverines won their first national championship since 1989 and first title game appearance since 2018. Regardless of how much of a college basketball fan you are, there’s no way you could have argued that the right 68 teams weren’t in. Are we really going to 76 is the ideal number? And the case for expanding the women’s tournament is even worse.
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There’s less parity in the NCAA Women’s Tournament and adding eight more teams is making it feel more like a participation award rather than rewarding teams for having good seasons. Nonetheless, here’s what this year’s tournament field would have looked like with 76 teams.
What is the new format for a 76-team NCAA Tournament field?
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Eight more at-large bids in new tournament expansion
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The “First Four” will expand from four games to 12 with 24 teams instead of eight
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Dayton expected to host pre-NCAA Tournament games
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Traditional NCAA Tournament will still start with first round games on Thursday
Logistically speaking, there’s a lot of changes that come with adding eight more teams, but in all actuality, there won’t be many changes you notice. The big thing is adding another neutral site for the games before the start of the NCAA Tournament and there will be more games on Tuesday and Wednesday with 12 games to get through before Thursday. The First Four, which has featured eight teams playing for four seeds, will expand to 24 teams playing for 12 seeds. Once the NCAA Tournament starts, it will be the exact same tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams.
What would the 2026 NCAA Tournament field have looked like with 76 teams?
Auburn Tigers | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
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LAST FOUR BYES (NET ranking) |
LAST FOUR IN |
FIRST FOUR OUT |
NEXT FOUR OUT |
|---|---|---|---|
|
South Florida (45) |
NC State (36) |
Auburn (38) |
Arizona State (73) |
|
VCU (44) |
Texas (42) |
Indiana (41) |
Yale (74) |
|
Long Island (198) |
SMU (37) |
San Diego State (47) |
LSU (75) |
|
Siena (173) |
Miami (OH) (64) |
Oklahoma (48) |
Colorado (76) |
Above is a layout of the 12 teams that would have made it in this year’s tournament. The last four byes are the two No. 16 seeds and the two No. 11 seeds that avoided the First Four games. The Next Four Out is simply comprised of the four teams ranked 73-76 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Now, full disclosure: your NET ranking doesn’t guarantee you get in (NC State had a 36 NET ranking and was left out), but for the sake of simplicity, we’ll use that.
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You’ll notice the expansion change taking effect more before the NCAA Tournament starts rather than once it starts. The main field will remain a 64-team field, giving college basketball fans at least one piece of tradition to cling onto as capitalism runs rampant on college campuses.
Why expanding the NCAA Tournament is a bad idea
UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
I hate to rehash an old point, but does adding eight more teams into the NCAA Tournament field really benefit the field. Did the NCAA Tournament need Auburn to play in it? No. In fact, Auburn probably benefitted more from it, winning the NIT Tournament this year after being omitted from March Madness. It’s all a ploy from the Power 4 teams to get more of their teams in to generate more revenue for the conference.
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If expanding the NCAA Tournament meant giving more teams deserving of a spot, regardless of conference affiliation, then I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But at the end of the day, the NCAA is simply letting the Power 4 conferences run the show – really the Big Ten and the SEC – and are quietly being compliant. Forcing us to watch teams like Xavier, Auburn and Indiana solves nothing. The NCAA Tournament field wasn’t broken so this was a failed attempt at trying to “fix” it.
The only good thing that could come from an expanded NCAA Tournament
I’m only pro expansion for one reason and that’s if all No. 1 seeds in each conference are exempt from conference tournaments and given an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. It would add value to winning the regular season title while also giving some conferences a chance to be a multi-bid league. The Mid-American Conference was fortunate enough to have two teams after Miami (OH)’s undefeated season was spoiled in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This would give teams that could use a resume boost a better chance to do so.
Now the downside to this is teams that win the regular season title could go as long as two weeks without playing a game. That’s not ideal in a single-elimination-style tournament. The other con is that it takes away from the conference tournament, though that’s always been a money-grab to begin with.
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It’s not the best solution, but it’s a lot better than arbitrarily adding eight more teams. The NCAA Tournament doesn’t need more teams. Some people think it does, and that’s how we landed on a 76-team expansion. Only time will tell if it will work and was ultimately worth it.
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This article was originally published on www.fansided.com as What a 76-team March Madness would’ve looked like in 2026 with expansion imminent.
