March Madness will keep the same level of madness next year, structurally, at least.
The Division I men’s and women’s basketball committees decided to keep the field at 68 teams during a Zoom call Monday, but they’re not opposed to expansion in the future.
“Expanding the tournament fields is no longer being contemplated for the 2026 men’s and women’s basketball championships,” SVP of basketball Dan Gavitt said in a statement. “However, the committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2027 championships.”
Gavitt said last month that the committees discussed tournament expansion “at length” during meetings but hadn’t yet come to a decision. In May, NCAA president Charlie Baker said there had been “good conversations” with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery about adding more teams. By July, Baker said the biggest challenge would be logistically fitting the expanded tournament between conference tournaments and The Masters. The Big 12 men’s coaches and commissioner Brett Yormark have expressed support for expanding, if the media partners pay more.
Adding more teams would, in theory, increase the value of the tournament for media-rights partners. The men’s tournament is locked in with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery through 2032 on a deal that will pay roughly $1.1 billion next year, while the women’s tournament is roped into ESPN’s deals for all NCAA women’s championships. Signed in 2024, the eight-year, $920 million deal values the women’s tournament at $65 million annually.
But media executives told Front Office Sports in May that the NCAA would probably get “chump change” from CBS or WBD from beefing up the tournament, because the games would extend the earliest round. FOS also reported that ESPN’s contract says it doesn’t have to pay the NCAA more money if the women’s March Madness expands.
