For men and women divisions to discuss the possible expansion of the march Madness tournament, committees met this week for the women’s division, but did not make any immediate decisions or recommendations.
Dan Gavit, Senior Vice President of Basketball NCAA, said in a statement on Thursday, “Still feasible results include the remaining tournaments in 68 teams or to expand farms for 72 or 76 teams before 2026 or 2027 championships.”
The idea of the expansion of the tournament raised steam in the spring when NCAA President Charlie Baker said that it can add and he wants to see This issue was solved in the next few months,
He said that NCAA has “good conversation” with TV partners CBS and Warner Brothers, whose deal runs at a cost of about $ 1.1 billion per year in 2032. Baker also mentioned the hard logistics associated with connecting teams, now known as “First Four” – a series of four games played on Tuesday and Wednesday of the first week to keep four teams in the 64 -Team bracket.
Although there is no concrete plan for how the detail will work, the speculation is focused on bringing more than the more than the major conferences in the 64-Team bracket. Such a step will come at the cost of the champion of the lower level conferences.
Currently, two of the first four matches include 16 seeds-T qualifications by winning low-ranked conferences-while two more low-and-big teams often have 11 or 12 seeds. For example, in 2021, the UCLA created the last four as 11 seeds which were also played in the first four.
“I do not continue that model in the future,” said Greg Sanki, Commissioner of South East Conference in May.
She used an example of the northern Carolina state for the last four as 11 seeds in 2023, as bubble teams from large conferences could score a long run in the tournament.
“You can ask my colleagues [automatic qualifier] What should happen to the conferences, and I am sure they want to continue for life, “Sanki said.” But you really have got something, really good team … which I think should be transferred to the tournament. ,
Any recommendation for expansion will have to be approved by Division I Board of NCAA, which is found in the next August.
