Baker sees value in expanding March Insanity
May 29, 2025, 01:07 PM ET
ORLANDO, Fla.– NCAA president Charlie Baker says he sees value in expanding the NCAA competition by a handful of teams and wants to reach a choice on the matter in the next couple of months.Baker spoke Thursday throughout Big 12 spring meetings, where conference leaders are talking about whatever from the multibillion-dollar revenue-sharing House settlement to intricacies brought on by the transfer website and name, image and similarity compensation.Baker discussed the concept of expanding from 68 teams to 72 or 76.
“We’ve had good conversations with CBS and WBD,”Baker stated, describing Warner Bros. Discovery, whose holdings include the Turner networks that air NCAA competition games. “Our objective here is to try to sort of get to either yes or no at some point in the next couple of months since there’s a lot of logistical work that would be associated with doing this. If we were to decrease this roadway, you simply think about the opening weekends, who has to travel the longest, it gets made complex.” The NCAA Tournament expanded from 65 to 68 teams in 2011. The modification introduced the First 4 round, a set of
pre-tournament games where the 4 lowest-seeded at-large teams and four lowest-seeded conference champs contend for spots in the traditional 64-team bracket.Baker indicated that the present formula has flaws and said it would be beneficial to give more chances to worthy teams.”If you have a tournament that’s got 64 or 68 teams in it, you’re going to have a bunch of groups that are probably among what most people would consider to be the best 68 or
70 groups in the country that aren’t going to make the tournament, period, “Baker stated.”The point behind going from 68 to 72 or 76 is to essentially provide some of those schools that were probably amongst the 72, 76, 68, 64 best teams in the country a way into the competition.”Baker cited a competitive Indiana State team falling short of the 2024 competition as an example. Indiana State went on to play Seton Hall in the NIT title game, which he referred to as
one of the very best games that spring.Kansas coach Bill Self said fellow Big 12 coaches appear to prefer NCAA tournament growth. The Huge 12 had seven quotes in 2025, half the total of the SEC.” There was a little bit that was
come up with, and the agreement among the coaches, despite the fact that it was very little, would be in favor of that,” he said.”I don’t understand if you could make it where it was absolutely fair all the method throughout the board for everyone. Certainly, there’s going to be outliers on every situation.”