Skip to main content
Michigan
Join Now

Newsstand: A look at the new NCAA Tournament bracket with 76 teams

Screenshotby: Clayton Sayfie05/08/26CSayf23

Tweets Of The Day

The NCAA formally adopted adding eight teams to the NCAA Tournament beginning in 2027, with the change receiving final approval Thursday. Courtesy of NCAA.com, here’s a look back at all of the different tournament formats through the years:

1982 — 32 teams

The first year of the NCAA women’s tournament included 32 teams — 13 of those were champions of automatic qualifying conferences — with Louisiana Tech beating Cheyney State in the national championship game in Norfolk, Virginia.

1983

Fourteen conferences earned automatic qualification. The championship bracket remained at 32 teams, but for one year only, an additional eight conferences played opening round games to determine four additional conference representatives to compete in the first round.

1986 — 40 teams

The bracket expanded to 40 teams. Eighteen conferences also now received automatic bids. Texas defeated USC in the title game to become the first undefeated NCAA tournament champion.

1989 — 48 teams

The tournament increased to 48 teams, with 19 conferences holding automatic spots. Tennessee beat Auburn in the title game in Tacoma, Washington.

1994 — 64 teams

The tournament bracket moved to 64 teams as all 32 eligible conferences were awarded automatic berths. North Carolina beat Louisiana Tech for the national championship on a Charlotte Smith 3-pointer as time expired.

2022 — 68 teams

The bracket expanded for the first time in almost 30 years, increasing to 68 teams. Thirty-two conferences had automatic qualifiers. This marked the first use of the First Four round, with the last four at-large teams and teams seeded 65 through 68 by the selection committee playing in the opening round. These games were played at campus sites.

2027 — 76 teams

The tournament field will increase in 2027, adding eight more teams. The change will be centered on the opening round, with 12 total games involving 24 teams before the first round and the 64-team bracket. The 12 opening round games will be played at 12 campus sites on Wednesday, March 17 and Thursday, March 18. The 24 teams will be the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large selections. The games will not have crossovers, meaning it will be at-large vs. at-large and automatic qualifier vs. automatic qualifier.

Former Michigan standout Duncan Robinson helped the Detroit Pistons go up 2-0 over the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 107-97 victory Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena. For the second straight game, Robinson knocked home 5 three-pointers. He totaled 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in 37 minutes.

Quote Of The Day

“The knock on Lendeborg is that he is an older prospect. That shouldn’t matter because at this point, he might be the best overall player available. The Mavs need a point guard, but taking Lendeborg would be worth the swing.”

— CBS Sports NBA Draft analyst Cameron Salerno on Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg

Headlines Of The Day

• Clayton Sayfie, Anthony Broome and Chris Balas, The Wolverine: Podcast: Joel Klatt’s post-spring top 25, was Bryce Underwood unlucky and Michigan basketball news
• Chris Balas, The Wolverine: The 3-2-1: Michigan football – a spring eye-opener we missed, under the radar players to watch, more
• Anthony Broome, The Wolverine: Michigan WR room reset: Top two set with exciting youth options and potential
• Clayton Sayfie, The Wolverine: Kyle Church: Five-star Michigan signee Brandon McCoy is ‘exactly what a create-a-2K guard should look like’