Rick Pitino on NCAA Tournament expansion: 'Who cares?'

Much of the public opinion on NCAA Tournament expansion has been negative. An additional eight teams will hear their name called on Selection Sunday, going from 68 teams to 76. More games are coming but not many people are thrilled about the concept.

St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, maybe surprisingly, is not one of them. His thought process behind the NCAA Tournament gaining teams is “who cares?” Pitino sees a system where more teams get experience and, at the end of the day, the best teams will move on.

“When I hear people are upset the NCAA expanded to 76 teams, I think ‘why and who cares?'” Pitino said via X. “The best teams advance and more teams get to experience the greatest tournament on earth.”

Getting into the field has not really been an issue for Pitino the last couple of years. St. John’s was a two-seed in 2025 and slotted into the five-line this past March. So, this is not an opinion that directly sees the Red Storm benefit. Everyone expects them to compete in the Big East moving forward, with the goal of getting back into the Final Four.

Pitino did dance on two occasions as the head coach of Iona. Winning the MAAC Tournament got them there, being a one-and-done team. Maybe Pitnio envisions a world where more mid-major programs are included as at-large candidates. On3’s James Fletcher provided a look at how this affects things moving forward.

Eventually, more opinions on expansion are going to come from active head coaches. Pitnio was just vocal a lot earlier than most of them, taking to social media.

More on NCAA Tournament expansion

Days after reports emerged that the NCAA was in the final stages of its efforts to expand the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams, the news is official. The NCAA voted to make the change, bringing about a new era in the sport, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander.

The NCAA had been considering expanding both tournaments for more than a year. Things began accelerating in that direction two weeks ago.

Top NCAA officials reportedly met with the tournament’s various media partners to finalize the proposed expansion, according to ESPN, and all sides were in agreement on the terms of updated media contracts. The committees responsible for finalizing NCAA Tournament expansion required signed contracts before any formal decisions were to be made.

On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report