Big 12 Coaches, Execs Back March Madness Expansion: Bigger Is Better

FRISCO, Texas — As the NCAA prepares for an expanded March Madness next year, Big 12 basketball coaches and executives aren’t concerned about any pushback from fans about the much-debated decision.

“To give a few more teams an opportunity is a good thing,” Arizona’s men’s basketball coach Tommy Lloyd said Wednesday at the Big 12’s spring meetings when asked about the topic by Front Office Sports.

The Wildcats won the Big 12 this past season and advanced to the Final Four as a No. 1 seed in what turned out to be the final 68-team NCAA basketball tournament. In 2027, the bracket is growing to 76 teams, with 24 playing in an expanded opening round that will replace the First Four.

“I think the more games on TV, the better,” Lloyd said. “I know I’ll be watching. I think we all will be. I don’t think anybody’s going to say, ‘Oh, I’m not watching those games,’ because there’s going to be buzzer beaters, there’s going to be high drama, and I think it’s going to gain more momentum, more interest.”

Big 12 chief basketball officer Brian Thornton pointed to increased financial commitment from many schools to their basketball programs thanks to the launch of revenue sharing last year.

“The more teams that have the ability to capitalize on that investment with an opportunity to play in the biggest sporting event in the country is probably not a bad thing,” Thornton said. “More chances for student-athletes to have a special experience is probably not a bad thing.”

Keeping the traditional first-round slate on the opening Thursday and Friday of March Madness intact, and replacing the First Four with a larger play-in slate is key, Thornton said.

“By expanding in a meaningful way, it makes the opening around feel significant, where that should feel like part of the NCAA tournament in a way that maybe the First Four didn’t in the past,” he said. “When you have 24 teams playing in the opening round of the tournament, that’s almost a third of the entire field. So, that is the NCAA tournament, not kind of a play-in opportunity, which the First Four kind of became.”

Big 12 VP of women’s basketball Dayna Scherf believes March Madness expansion will send even more teams from the conference dancing, after a league-record eight teams made the tournament this year. “I expect that we will benefit from that expansion, certainly with the depth of our league,” Scherft said.

Several other Division I coaches previously told FOS that March Madness expansion was particularly important for the women’s game.

“It’s the greatest experience that we have in college athletics,” West Virginia women’s basketball coach Mark Kellogg said. “So, to give—whether that’s players, coaches, fans—opportunities to experience that, whatever that looks like in your situation, is fantastic. And it’s an opportunity that’s warranted and needed in our league.”