The Weekender: NCAA Tournament Expected to Expand, NCAA Proposes Rule Change to Ban Players After Remaining in Draft, and Geno Auriemma Lashes Out at Dawn Staley During Postgame Handshake

By 11W Staff on April 5, 2026 at 2:45 pm
NCAA Tournament Bracket
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NCAA Tournament Expected to Expand to 76 Teams

Money. Money. Money.

College basketball fans didn't ask for it, and neither did the majority of coaches and players. However, money talks, and the NCAA is expected to expand March Madness from 68 teams to 76 as early as 2027, according to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger.

Barring something unforeseen, “it will happen,” says one high-placed source.

According to a proposal socialized with members last year, eight games would be added to the current “First Four” played over Tuesday and Wednesday of the first week of the event. This new “opening round” — the verbiage used to describe it — would feature 24 teams playing in 12 games over the two days at two sites (Dayton and another). Those involved in the negotiations caution that plenty of this could change through the course of continuing talks with TV partners Warner Bros. Discovery and CBS.

The 12 winners of the opening-round games — likely six games pitting lower-seeded automatic qualifiers and six pitting at-large teams — advance to an awaiting 52 teams in the original bracket. Under this concept, eight teams are extracted from the main bracket, plus the eight new at-large selections from expansion.

Whether we like it or not, this will likely mean more mediocre high-major teams rather than mid-major programs.

NCAA president Charlie Baker believes that giving more high-major teams a chance is a net positive, as evidenced by No. 11 seeds Texas and Miami (Ohio), who proved it in their own respective ways over the last couple of weeks.

“There are every year some really good teams that don’t get to the tournament for a bunch of reasons,” Baker said last fall. “One of the reasons is we have 32 automatic qualifiers [for conference champions]. I love that and think it’s great and never want that to change, but that means there’s only 36 slots left for everybody else.”

The NCAA Tournament has expanded over the last nine decades, but has done so more rapidly over the last 15 years, much like it did in the 1979-80 season.

  • 1939: The tournament started with eight teams
  • 1951: Expanded to 16
  • 1975: Expanded to 32
  • 1979: Expanded to 40
  • 1980: Expanded to 48
  • 1985: Expanded to 64
  • 2001: Expanded to 65
  • 2011: Expanded to 68, introducing the "First Four"

For what it's worth, the bubble teams this season, who barely missed the NCAA Tournament but will surely make it if it expands by six teams yet again, included Auburn (17-16), Indiana (18-14), New Mexico (23-10), Oklahoma (19-15) and San Diego State (22-11).

NCAA Proposes Rule Change to Ban Players From Playing at Collegiate Level After Opting in, Remaining in Professional Sports Draft

In one of the most common sense, "well, duh" rule changes in recent memory involving college sports, the NCAA Division I Cabinet is considering proposed changes to eligibility rules, including a rule that would make it so athletes who have entered and remained in a professional sports draft cannot return to college and play at the collegiate level.

"These proposed changes reflect ongoing work by Division I members to modernize our rules to align with the current era of college sports," said Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman, chair of the cabinet. "As Division I members proceed with reviewing all eligibility rules in the months ahead, our focus will be on establishing rules that have objective criteria that can be consistently applied for both prospects and current student-athletes."

The potential changes were proposed on Wednesday, and the cabinet will take action within a few weeks.

One of the proposals would require prospects to withdraw from opt-in professional league drafts, including the NBA draft, to bring pre-college enrollment draft rules in line with post-college enrollment draft rules. Men's ice hockey and baseball would not be affected because athletes don't opt in to those sports' drafts.

The potential rule change and proposal come after two players, Alabama's Charles Bediako and Baylor's James Nnaji, played for their respective programs this season after entering the 2023 NBA draft.

UConn's Geno Auriemma Lashes Out at South Carolina's Dawn Staley During Postgame Handshake

The Gamecocks upset the Huskies in the Final Four Friday night, ending UConn's undefeated season, but it was Auriemma's actions after the game that were the biggest storyline despite the blowout win by South Carolina.

Auriemma seemed to be on one Friday night, likely due to his team struggling to get anything going offensively and inevitably falling in the Final Four despite previously being unbeaten.

He also had this to say ahead of the fourth quarter of the game:

Unfortunately for Auriemma, with social media, the truth eventually gets revealed, and it appears that what the two things he was most angry about in the postgame handshake line weren't true, considering there's photographic proof that Auriemma and Staley did, in fact, shake hands before the game and UConn's Sarah Strong ripped her own jersey.

Auriemma apologized for his actions (and words) on Saturday.

ICYMI

Cortez Hankton Saw Ohio State As “The Place to Come To” With Excellent Culture, “Loaded” Wide Receiver Room

Ohio State emerged as a dream destination for Cortez Hankton, who's excited to work with the Buckeyes' "loaded" wide receiver room: "It's even better than I would ever have imagined.”

Freshman Wide Receiver Brock Boyd Joins Elite and Rare Company By Losing Black Stripe in March

In Ohio State’s 15-year history of removing black stripes, superstar wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are the only freshmen to shed their stripes faster than Brock Boyd.

Press Coverage: Devin McCuin, Tavien St. Clair, James Smith Among Ohio State's Student Appreciation Day Standouts

Devin McCuin and Tavien St. Clair highlighted Ohio State's passing game at Student Appreciation Day, while James Smith led a great day for the defensive line.

What's Next

  • 153 Days: Ohio State football opens season vs. Ball State
  • 195 Days: The Buckeyes face Indiana in Bloomington
  • 237 Days: The Game
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