NCAA President Charlie Baker says he “would like [the NCAA Tournament] to expand,” and there is a chance it will go to 76 teams beginning in 2027.
No decision will be made until after this year’s tournament, but at least one college basketball analyst says March Madness “cannot be ruined” by expansion.
“The tournament cannot be ruined, forget about it,” ESPN’s Seth Greenberg said on “SportsCenter.” “Just go to 76, we’ll be fine.”
Two years ago, both Seton Hall and St. John’s were left out of the Field of 68 when many, including Baker, felt they deserved to be in.
“I was bummed that St. John’s didn’t make the playoffs a few years ago [in 2024], because they were the only team that gave Connecticut a run for their money during the second half of the season,” Baker said in October. “The same year [Seton Hall] ended up winning [the NIT]….you could’ve argued should’ve been in the tournament.”
Greenberg is in favor of having the 24 lowest-seeded teams compete in the play-in round and then going from there.
“Let’s start with 76 the ‘First Four’ will become the ‘First 24,’” he said. “I would take the 24 lowest-seeded teams. I don’t care if they’re power conference, non-power conference, most of them are going to be non -power conference. They’ll play against each other to play into the bracket, just like the ‘First Four’ is. But there’ll be 12 of those games, and then we’ll have a bracket like we normally have.
“And let’s face it, it’s finances. These Power-5 teams basically fuel the NCAA. You still have a chance for the upsets, but when you have 16- and 18-team leagues, you can’t have five or six teams from those leagues in the tournament. Those schools have spent too much money investing in those programs. So let’s try [76]. They said 32 was no good. They said 48 was no good, was gonna ruin the tournament. The tournament cannot be ruined.”
