NCAA in final steps to expand March Madness to 76 teams, expected to begin in 2027

The NCAA is reportedly in the final steps in its efforts to expand its men’s and women’s postseason basketball tournaments to 76 teams, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The expansion is expected to begin with the 2026-27 basketball season.

The NCAA has been considering expanding its men’s and women’s postseason tournaments for more than a year. Now, according to Thamel, a move to 76 teams could be formalized “in the upcoming weeks,” with a targeted deadline for an official announcement slated for the second week in May.

“They have what they need to move forward,” a source told Thamel.

NCAA officials reportedly met with the tournament’s various media partners last week to finalize the proposed expansion, according to ESPN, and all sides are in agreement on the terms of updated media contracts, though nothing has been formally signed, per Thamel. The NCAA committees responsible for finalizing tournament expansion require signed contracts before any formal decisions can be made.

According to the 76-team proposal passed around last Fall, the additional eight teams would be added to the current “First Four” play-in round, currently held on Tuesday and Wednesday before the full 64-team first-round slate kicks off during the tournament’s opening weekend. The newly expanded play-in round would then feature 24 teams playing 12 games over two days before the winners join the other 52 teams already in the traditional first-round field that initial weekend.

Expansion is also expected to include a rebranding of sorts, with the first 12 games to be labeled as “the Opening Round,” replacing the “the First Four,” according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander. The new opening round will still include both at-large and auto bids, with all 16 seeds and half of the 15 seeds slated to represent half of the initial 24-team field played on Tuesday and Wednesday of the first week, per Norlander. The final 12 teams will be a mix of 11-, 12-, and possibly 13-seeds, via Norlander.

The idea of NCAA Tournament expansion beyond its current 68-team field has been a point of contention between collegiate power brokers and college basketball fans for several years. NCAA officials and their member schools see major dollar signs as a result of renegotiating the tournament’s current media rights deal for the NCAA’s biggest money-making product, especially during a precarious time for college athletics. Meanwhile, most college basketball fans worry that further expansion will only water down the already-entertaining postseason format.

According to Thamel, NCAA tournament expansion isn’t expected to be “a financial windfall” for the organization, but it is expected to deliver a profit that should help cover the additional logistics associated with expanding the current field with “a modest financial upside,” per ESPN.