Well, we’re getting closer and closer to the inevitable. The NCAA basketball tournament is going to expand.
Sources: The NCAA has initiated the final steps to expand the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams. The expansion is on track to be formalized in the upcoming weeks, with mid-May as the target. The 76-team tournaments begin next year. https://t.co/2ZGUjZR0uJ
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 28, 2026
Here’s the real problem with expansion. Take a look at the first 12 matchups. So many P5 teams are 4 and 5 games under .500 in the league. Are these really teams that deserve post-season appearances? College Basketball fans may watch, but casual sports fans won’t. Casual sports fans start watching when their brackets get going at 64. I’m a big college basketball fan, and I won’t be watching unless a team I root for is there.
There are just too many games and too many mediocre teams. The regular season already struggles to get viewers and interest.
I suppose you can morph the post-season to regular season if you play maybe 27-28 regular season games, and 8 or 9 potential tourney games. This will further hurt November and December basketball and the early-season tournaments.
For a handful of games, you’ve created more disinterest in regular-season basketball that already struggles for sports viewing time.
For those wondering what a new “First 12” might look like in a 76-team field: https://t.co/7nTVMz9n0m
— Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) April 28, 2026
