How former BYU coach Dave Rose feels about NCAA tourney expansion to 76 teams

The NCAA Tournament just became available to just about everyone and their dog.

Well, that’s a little exaggeration, but the NCAA did expand its March Madness field from 68 to 76 teams earlier this week.

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That’s a lot of free team flights, a ton of butts in arena seats and a lot of teams that maybe do not deserve to play in this event, one of the most popular sporting events in the world.

But, it also means more commercial breaks which means more TV money. And ultimately, that’s the bottom line.

If you have a golden goose, push out more eggs.

The reactions have varied, both pro and con.

Retired BYU basketball coach Dave Rose, who worked 40 years in the business, likes the idea of more teams.

“Coming from my background as a coach at BYU, the more teams in the tournament means more opportunities for these players to keep playing, and I know how much it means to those players,” he said.

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“It’s a very big deal, a precious memory they won’t forget.”

Rose said the other factor is a team like Miami (Ohio) out of the MAC, which went 31-0 in the regular season before losing in its conference tournament to a 17-16 UMass team. The RedHawks had to sweat out not having an automatic berth before ultimately getting an 11-seed and having to face SMU in a play-in game.

Rose believes there has to be a way to get regular season conference champions in the NCAA Tournament if they lose in the conference tournament on a night some other team caught lightning in a bottle for two hours. A season of elite play should stand for something.

Others agree with Rose.

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Alan Huss (Creighton coach): He views it as “the more the merrier,” believing it will have minimal overall impact but give more teams a chance to experience March Madness.

Rick Barnes (Tennessee coach): “I’m in favor of three weeks… I’m all in favor of the smaller teams having a chance to be in this tournament… it’s going to impact the country in every state.”

Jake Diebler (Ohio…

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Publish date : 2026-05-09 23:55:00

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