Coaches’ opinions mixed on NCAA Tournament expansion. Some say it fixes something that’s not broken

The way Alan Huss looks at NCAA Tournament expansion, the more the merrier.

The new Creighton coach said he thinks the move from 68 to 76 teams will have minimal impact on the sport overall and give more teams a chance to experience March Madness, so it’s a good thing.

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But some of the biggest voices in the game, including UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma, say increasing the number of teams attempts to fix something that wasn’t broken and that there are bigger issues, namely transfer rules, that should be addressed.

“To me, this is strictly a money grab for the Power Four conferences to get teams that finished 6-10 in their conference to get into the tournament,” Auriemma said.

There is no consensus among coaches on the topic of expansion. The National Association of Basketball Coaches, in fact, said it would not take a formal position on growing to 76 teams “in the absence of unanimous sentiment among the coaching community.”

The NCAA touted the greater access to the tournament for all teams. Some 21% of Division I men’s and women’s teams will participate. That’s up from 18%, which was the lowest rate among major team sports, according to the NCAA.

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With the new 24-team opening round, which replaces the eight-team First Four, six conference automatic qualifiers — most likely mid-majors — will play at least two games in the tournament. Previously, only two AQs had a chance to play twice.

While mid-majors that advance will bring in more money for their conferences from the NCAA’s performance fund, and there might be a few more at-large spots available for what typically are one-bid leagues, access for programs outside the Power Four won’t improve much.

Huss speaks from experience. As High Point’s coach, his team won the 2024 Big South regular-season title but lost in the conference tournament and was relegated to the College Basketball Invitational. His team swept the regular-season and conference tournament titles the next…

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Publish date : 2026-05-08 15:47:00

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