NCAA President Charlie Baker is ready to kickstart plans to expand the Division I for both men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments. The plan is in motion for NCAA expansion to 76 teams. Six teams will be added starting from 2026-27 season. The last NCAA expansion to 68-team format was adopted for men in 2011 and for women in 2022.
This expansion is focused on “bubble” teams getting more opportunities. Baker and NCAA senior vice president of basketball operations Dan Gavitt met with multiple television partners including CBS and TNT. They reportedly discussed logistics, broadcasting, and marketing prospects of the NCAA expansion.
Now while the teams of lower divisions might benefit from the expansion, how much does it help the college basketball as a whole is debatable. Many believe the previous expansion shouldn’t have happened either let alone the next one. Many analysts oppose the NCAA expansion. NCAA analysts Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish had some strong opinions.
“This was before la this before this year’s tournament 2520 tournament games since the tournament went to the field of 64. How many D1 schools added have won a first round game or later out of 2520? The answer was 19. That’s right. Out of 2520. That’s less than 1% of all teams added to the division one pool. We can keep it moving. This talking point like truly gets on my skin how phony and bogus it is in general,” Norlander ranted.
“This idea of the percentage and population of a given sports that makes your postseason such nonsense. Just shut up like that, man. It’s not even apples to oranges. It’s apples to damn gravel rocks in your driver. It’s not the same thing. It’s not the same thing whatsoever,” he continued.
He said if the expansion had gone to 96, he may have considered leaving or changing what he does and probably not cover the sport. But he still loves college basketball and despite the agitation with the decision, he will continue to cover college basketball. He shared that he is still “depressed as hell” and even though it was kind of inevitable.
“The NCAA has been able to successfully just beat the American sports public down, at least a portion of it, to say, ‘What are you going to do? Well, at least it’s not 96. Well, at least it’s not 88. Well, at least it’s not 80.’ No, this still sucks. And they did not need to do it. And no sport, no American sport, not one, not Major League Baseball which has had its troubles with it, not the NBA which has had its troubles with it. There has not been a sport in this century that has faced a more profound issue with keeping the entirety of its regular season both relevant and urgent the way that college basketball has,” Norlander said.
History of NCAA expansion over the years
There have been 13 instances throughout history where NCAA has met to decide the expansion. From 8 teams to 76 teams in March Madness:
- 1939 – Inaugural March Madness only had 8 teams.
- 1951 – 16 teams
- 1953 – 22 teams
- 1975 – 32 teams
- 1979 – 40 teams
- 1980 – 48 teams
- 1983 – 52 teams
- 1984 – 53 teams
- 1985 – 64 teams
- 2001 – 65 teams which added the opening round game.
- 2011 – 68 teams which created the First Four. (Men’s)
- 2022 – 68 teams were accepted for the women’s tournament as well.
- 2026 – 76 teams.
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