The NCAA has begun the final steps to expand the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
The expansion, which has been discussed for more than a year, is on track to be formalized in the coming weeks and will begin in the upcoming season. Sources indicated mid-May as a possible timeline for the announcement.
Although there are still steps to be taken in terms of approval through various NCAA committees, a source indicated that “those are just formalities.”
“He has what he needs to move forward,” a source said.
NCAA officials met with media partners for the men’s tournament last week, sources told ESPN. According to sources, the parties were in the final stages of media contracts, but they had not been signed.
Once the contract is complete, the NCAA will also require approval from various committees including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, the men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees, the Division I Cabinet and the Division I Board of Governors.
In order for the various NCAA committees to vote, contracts will need to be signed for their approval.
“Expanding the basketball tournament will require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, and no final recommendations or decisions have been made at this time,” the NCAA said in a statement.
The expansion is not expected to have a financial windfall for the NCAA and its members, but sources stressed that there will be benefits.
The additional finance would cover additional logistics costs for both the men’s and women’s tournaments, additional NCAA Tournament entities that would come into play and still provide a “modest financial benefit”.
The primary driver of this move is not money, but access to larger bids for power conferences. The expansion has been fueled by power conventions, which have increased during the current deal.
The expansion process for the men’s tournament will include eight additional at-large bids. What is now known as the First Four – eight teams playing four games in Dayton, Ohio – would expand to 12 games played by 24 teams at two locations, one of which was expected to be in Dayton.
The location of the new site has not yet been determined, but it was expected to be west of the Eastern Time Zone to help with logistics.
The expansion will add an additional eight men’s games, meaning 24 of the 76 men’s teams will feature on Tuesday and Wednesday of the NCAA Tournament.
The traditional 64-team men’s team bracket will still begin Thursday and look largely the same. The main difference will be that more teams qualifying as traditional at-larges will have to play before the 64-team bracket.
