The NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments are in the final stages of expanding to 76 teams, beginning with the 2027 Big Dance.
Per ESPN, the athletics association has begun the last steps to make the expansion official, and it is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
Sources: The NCAA has initiated the final steps to expand the mens and womens NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams. The expansion is on track to be formalized in the upcoming weeks, with mid-May as the target. The 76-team tournaments begin next year. https://t.co/2ZGUjZR0uJ
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 28, 2026
The NCAA Tournament has a long history of expansion since it was first introduced to men's college basketball in 1939. It started as an eight-team championship tournament, then doubled to 16 teams in 1951 and again to 32 teams in 1975. It adopted a 64-team model, considered the modern era of NCAA Tournament basketball, in 1985, then moved to 68 teams in 2011 with the "First Four" games played between the lowest automatic (No. 16 seeds) and at-large (No. 11 seeds) qualifiers before the first round began.
The number of games before the first round will grow to 12 with the expansion to 76 teams, adding eight at-large qualifiers to the tourney. Not that those additional teams are likely to be title contenders. No team lower than a No. 8 seed has ever won the men's NCAA Tournament. The lone No. 8 seed to do it in the modern era is Villanova in 1985. Only three teams that entered below the No. 5 seed line have won national championships in the 42 modern-era tournaments.
No team lower than a No. 3 seed has ever won a national championship on the women's side. Still, the expansion to 76 teams for both the men's and women's tournaments is set to finalize in mid-May, according to multiple reports.
The men's + women's NCAA Tournaments are expected to formally pass approval for expansion to 76 teams in May, sources told CBS Sports. The move to 76 would mean 52 teams would auto-slot into the main bracket and 12 games for 24 teams Tues/Wed for a rebuilt opening round. Story TK
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 28, 2026
The NCAA said in a statement that the expected expansion still needs to be approved by the men’s and women’s basketball committees.
Statement from NCAA on tournament expansion to @FOS: Nothing is finalized and committees have not voted yet.
— Amanda Christovich (@achristovichh) April 28, 2026
Statement comes amid report by ESPN that a 76-team tournament is the target. pic.twitter.com/5hq03V7cUv
