NCAA Finalizing Tournament Expansion to 76 Teams: Report...

With the men's and women's Final Four games playing out in the coming days, the NCAA Tournament is looking to expand to include more teams in future editions. Once the men's and women's postseason tournaments have completed, the NCAA is expected to finalize the expansion of both tournaments to include 76 teams. This year's field included 68 teams in both the men's and women's divisions, with the First Four games featuring eight teams competing in two games, with the four winning teams moving on to play higher seeds in the first round. The tournament expanded to 68 teams for the men in 2011, which brought the four First Four games. The women’s tournament debuted its First Four games for an expanded field in 2022. Now each tournament is expected to add more games, for a variety of reasons tied to the revenue juggernaut that is known as March Madness. Read more: UNC Coaching Rumors Get Insider Update on Billy Donovan, Other Candidates According to Yahoo! Sports' Ross Dellenger, a high-placed source indicated "it will happen" regarding the expansion of the field to 76 teams, unless some unforeseen circumstances arrive. With the expected expansion, eight at-large teams would join the tournament, and there would be a bigger opening round where 24 teams would play 12 opening-round games over two days at two sites. While there have been arguments about there already being too many teams in March Madness, this expansion would create more at-large spots, and not just help bubble teams, but also appease power-conference interests. With power conferences gaining influence in college sports, the NCAA is looking to give more access and revenue opportunities to those leagues. A big consideration in this expansion is that the NCAA generates most of its revenue from March Madness television rights, which are worth approximately $1 billion per year. The current deal with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery runs through 2031 and underpins college sports. Significant changes are expected for the tournament in the coming years, including this expansion, for the NCAA to make the product more attractive to the networks ahead of negotiations. With more teams and more games, that’s more opportunities for broadcasting March Madness, which the networks would fully support. It's a controversial move to expand the field, as some critics suggest that having more teams doesn't just mean more competition; it dilutes the overall quality of the tournament. However, money often talks when it comes to sports, as evidenced by the changing landscape of college sports. Read more: John Calipari Gets Honest About Dan Hurley on UConn Final Four Run For more about college basketball, visit Newsweek Sports.