NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
The NCAA is working toward expansion of the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams for next season, with hopes of finalizing a plan next month.
ESPN reported on Tuesday that the NCAA was initiating the final steps of expansion, but multiple people involved in expansion talks told The Athletic on Tuesday that there are still several key steps remaining to get a deal done.
Advertisement
“Expanding the basketball tournaments would require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, and no final recommendation or decisions have been made at this time,” the NCAA said in a statement.
The framework, though, has come together, and the number being targeted is 76. Eight more at-large teams would be added to the field, and the First Four opening round, currently held in Dayton, Ohio, would be expected to grow from four games to 12, with an additional host site added.
Which teams play in those opening-round games also still needs to be determined, but the current mix of the lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the final at-large selections is the preferred choice of television partners.
Using the NCAA’s NET ranking to add eight more at-large teams to this year’s 68-team field and the current selection process, the opening round for a hypothetical 76-team tournament in 2026 would have looked something like this:
Advertisement
If the 2026 tournament had 76 teams
Team 1
Team 2
No. 11 NC State (ACC)
No. 11 Texas (SEC)
No. 11 SMU (ACC)
No. 11 Miami (Ohio) (MAC)
No. 11 Auburn (SEC)
No. 11 Indiana (Big Ten)
No. 11 New Mexico (Mountain West)
No. 11 Oklahoma (SEC)
No. 12 San Diego State (Mountain West)
No. 12 Cincinnati (Big 12)
No. 12 Tulsa (American)
No. 12 Seton Hall (Big East)
No. 15 Wright State (Horizon)
No. 15 Kennesaw State (CUSA)
No. 15 Tennessee State (OVC)
No. 15 Idaho (Big Sky)
No. 16 Furman (Southern)
No. 16 Queens (ASun)
No. 16 Siena (MAAC)
No. 16 LIU (NEC)
No. 16 Howard (MEAC)
No. 16 UMBC (America East)
No. 16 Lehigh…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ncaa-basketball-tournaments-closing-76-230106443.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-04-28 23:01:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
