NCAA makes decision on March Madness expansion

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Apr 28, 2026 - 22:37

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NCAA makes decision on March Madness expansion originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The decision makers in the NCAA are in the final steps to expand both the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments according to Pete Thamel of ESPN. The expansion will grow the field from 68 teams, including the First Four, to 76 teams, expanding on what is known as the First Four.

How it would play out is that, instead of four games played in Dayton prior to the 64-team field, there will now be 12 games featuring 24 teams played across two cities. Dayton will remain one of the featured cities, with a West Coast city expected to be the second location.

Those 12 games will still be played on the Tuesday and Wednesday prior to the Thursday tip-off of the traditional 64-team field, which isn’t expected to change. The expansion adds eight additional teams that would need to play for an at-large bid rather than four.

Sources: The NCAA has initiated the final steps to expand the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams. The expansion is on track to be formalized in the upcoming weeks, with mid-May as the target. The 76-team tournaments begin next year. https://t.co/2ZGUjZR0uJ— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 28, 2026

Leading up to the expansion

Expanding both the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments has been discussed for over a year, and not just because of the revenue that it would generate, but also because power conferences are expanding.

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Officials from the NCAA and their media partners are currently in the final steps of the expansion, with the approval expected sometime in mid-May.