The NCAA Tournament is staying put at 68 participants, for now. According to a statement from Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, the annual NCAA Tournament in both men’s and women’s hoops will not expand in 2026. Gavitt’s statement was disclosed via ESPN and other media reports on Monday. He said while expansion is off the table for the upcoming season, conversations will continue “on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2027 championships.” Late last month, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports noted that an expansion of March Madness for the spring of 2026 was unlikely, with NCAA President Charlie Baker citing “logistics” as the reason why. Even though the Big Dance isn’t growing in 2026, future expansion is going to occur, because there’s too much money at stake in one of the sports world’s most popular events. However, adding more participants to the NCAA Tournament isn’t going to make it better. It could have the opposite effect, especially if a future expRead More
March Madness won’t expand this season, and here’s why it never should
