NCAA says March Madness growth ‘still viable’

Jul 10, 2025, 06:40 PM ET The committees for men’s and ladies’s Department I basketball fulfilled this week to talk about possible growth of the March Madness competitions, but made no instant choices or recommendations.

“The still viable results consist of the competitions remaining at 68 groups or expanding the fields to either 72 or 76 groups in advance of the 2026 or 2027 championships,” Dan Gavitt, the NCAA senior vice president of basketball, said in a statement Thursday.Editor’s Picks

1 Related The concept of broadening the competition got steam in the spring when NCAA president Charlie Baker stated it could include worth and that he want to see the issue dealt with in the next couple of months.He said the

NCAA has actually had “excellent discussions” with television partners CBS and Warner Bros., whose offer runs through 2032 at the cost of around $1.1 billion a year. Baker likewise pointed out significantly tough logistics involved with including teams to what is now known as the First 4, a series of 4 games used Tuesday and Wednesday of the first week to put four teams into the 64-team bracket.Though there has

been no concrete prepare for how growth would work, speculation has centered on bringing more at-large groups, likely from significant conferences, into the 64-team bracket. Such a move would come at the cost of champs of lower-level conferences.Currently, 2 of the First Four games involve 16 seeds– groups that immediately qualify by winning lower-ranked conferences– while two more include at-large groups typically seeded 11 or 12. For instance, in 2021, UCLA made the Final 4 as an 11-seed that likewise played in the First Four. “I don’t accept that design simply continues in

the future,”Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said at league conferences in May.He utilized the example of North Carolina State advancing to the Final Four as an 11-seed in 2023 as how bubble groups from huge conferences can make long runs in the tournament.”You could go ask my coworkers in the [automated qualifier] conferences what need to

take place, and I’m specific they want that split to continue for life,”Sankey stated.”But you have actually got some truly, really good teams … that I believe should be moved into the tournament. “Any recommendation for expansion would need to be authorized by the NCAA’s Department I board, which next meets in August.