Ncaa president "the goal is to have 72 to 76 teams by 2026 in the ncaa tournament "

[jeffky]

NCAA President says goal is to expand March Madness to '72 or 76' teams in 2026

Prepare for a field of 72 or 76 with NCAA Tournament expansion no longer in doubt, according to NCAA President Charlie Baker.

www.on3.com

I think it's good right now but more games equals more money 💰

 

[Fox2monk]

They can barely find 68 worthy teams. So stupid.. 64 was, is, and always will be perfect.

 

[dckala2]

“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

Eventually I think we'll simply see every D1 team in the tournament. And I'm sure we'll all be so excited to see early round match ups like Arkansas-Pine Bluff against Coppin State.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

They are determined to keep expanding the tournament until even Indiana is a regular participant.

This is two to four more play-in games between teams like UNC last year, that are then quickly routed when the real tournament starts. That, and more games between obscure 16 seeds. How that improves the product isn’t clear to me.

For teams that earn high seeds it’s still six wins to a championship so I guess it doesn’t matter much.

 

[BC_Wader]

Everyone is a winner anymore. Can't be hurting anyone's feelings. I hate the NCAA.

 

[UKBlueBlood]

Hell… at this rate, do away with any kind of regular season schedule and just play one, giant, double elimination tournament with every team. 🙄

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Bubba didn't like criticism for Carolina getting in. 75 was about where they were last year.

 

[Smashcat]

IU must have lobbied for this.🤦‍♀️

 

[kywildcat41035]

They way they keep going you might as well just let every division 1 team in.

 

[storm1507]

Eventually I think we'll simply see every D1 team in the tournament. And I'm sure we'll all be so excited to see early round match ups like Arkansas-Pine Bluff against Coppin State.

Actually it will more likely be Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs Kentucky in Round 1 and Coppin State vs Kentucky in Round 2 and finally get into some decent games mid April or so. Awful idea.

 

[KYExtemper]

There are more teams in D1 basketball than the past but I still don't like expansion. It's just going to further reward the power conferences and mid-major teams that might show promise will be routed/not get a chance at these bids.

The NCAA is going to kill the concept when they eventually make the bracket so big it won't fit on a piece of paper anymore. I think at that point you kill a lot of office pools/interest.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Aka "the goal is to milk this thing for all its worth regardless if it hurts the product"

 

[rick64]

No team lower than an 8 seed has EVER won the NCAAT. NovaCats back in 1985 I believe. Bigger isn't always better. This is just a freakin' money grab by the NCAA. I'd actually prefer to go back to a 32 team draw. But we've got this everyone gets a trophy mentality now we have to let everyone in. Good grief.

 

[Ugoff]

They haven't yet killed the golden goose, but they're choking the shart out it.

 

[JPScott]

Eventually I think we'll simply see every D1 team in the tournament. And I'm sure we'll all be so excited to see early round match ups like Arkansas-Pine Bluff against Coppin State.

In a way, every D1 team is already in the tournament. They can gain an automatic bid by winning their conference tournament.

 

[BlueSince92]

This will be awesome if they handle it right.

Every year ten worthy teams get booted to make room for teams that really don't belong in the tournament but got there by automatic bid.

If this lets the ten worthy teams in why would anybody complain.

Not guaranteed that that's the way they'll run it. But here's hoping.

 

[USMC Cat]

They wont be satisfied until they squeeze out every dollar they can.

Literally the goal od every organization anymore.

 

[JonathanW]

WHY??

 

[creeksman]

There are already too many teams. 64 was perfect.

 

[OliverSimmonstwinbrother]

WHY??

Money. They don't give a shiz about the integrity of the tournament or the fans. They want more money from attendance and tv.

 

[Kenjiwing]

Just typical greed garbage. More games = more tv rights. This has no business happening.

 

[katwest]

The way it is now is enough, adding any more is rewarding mediocrity. Of course, now the only thing that matters is money and nothing can stop it from growing, if they add to it now, it will keep happening.

 

[Hoskins21]

If it means letting in more teams who win their regular season conferences, then sure.

 

[AshWilliams]

WHY??

They project higher earnings. But they don't take into account diminishing returns.

 

[paulcalhoun]

NCAA President says goal is to expand March Madness to '72 or 76' teams in 2026

Prepare for a field of 72 or 76 with NCAA Tournament expansion no longer in doubt, according to NCAA President Charlie Baker.

www.on3.com

I think it's good right now but more games equals more money 💰

Too many already. 64 was too many. Anything beyond that is ridiculous.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Just more play in gamed that I won't watch most likely.

 

[CastleRubric]

Unimaginative minds equating bigger is always better

have to show SOME kind of "transformation" under your watch as an executive right?

 

[Creed Bratton]

Everyone is a winner anymore. Can't be hurting anyone's feelings. I hate the NCAA.

 

[WeWant9]

I don’t know any fans who are dying to see this change, plenty of other stuff that should be cleaned up. Switch it 76, and then the teams 77-80 will now moan how they were screwed. This will just put more .500 boring teams in.

 

[Ineverplayedthegame]

I don’t know all the whining is about. 72 only adds 4 teams. Now you have 8 games on Tuesday and Wednesday. More games with meaning and high leverage is always good. No big deal, either add an afternoon session or two new sites. The unintended consequence will be pulling 4 more marginal teams out of the main draw and giving them a play-in game.

 

[true blue1]

Should just be 64 teams.

 

[bigbluedon]

The love of money is the root of all evil. College sports as we once knew it is dead. Just a damn shame what is going on.

 

[catsfanbgky]

People think expanding will help the "little guys". Nope, more middling power conference teams with .500 overall records will grab the extra spots. I kind of like the idea of all conference regular season winners getting a bid, then maybe conference tournament champs (if not the regular season champ) getting in. All expanding is doing is making the regular season meaningless.

My opinion, expansion continues to water down the field. We know a top 30 team is winning it, why add a bunch of "also rans" ? Kind of like adding 4/5 horses with 50-1 odds to the race field. Only difference is the 50-1 horses DO sometimes win, in basketball, never.

 

[Mike-D]

NCAA President says goal is to expand March Madness to '72 or 76' teams in 2026

Prepare for a field of 72 or 76 with NCAA Tournament expansion no longer in doubt, according to NCAA President Charlie Baker.

www.on3.com

I think it's good right now but more games equals more money 💰

This shit is getting stupid. Just keep watering it down to fill the NCAA's pockets.

76 teams in a tournament is ridiculous. It's already ridiculous.

 

[EliteBlue]

They can barely find 68 worthy teams. So stupid.. 64 was, is, and always will be perfect.

I’d argue splitting into 2 divisions and 32 teams each is actually a better system…. It makes the regular season and in conference play matter so much more.

Everyone loves the Cinderella run to the E8 but the reality is, if I was at a mid major, I’d rather have a chance to win something that matters like NDSU in FCS football.

 

[CastleRubric]

I don’t know any fans who are dying to see this change, plenty of other stuff that should be cleaned up. Switch it 76, and then the teams 77-80 will now moan how they were screwed. This will just put more .500 boring teams in.

They should CONTRACT the field to 32 and build a more exclusive air to the thing


What they're doing now is opening a giant damn flea market and trailer park water slide ATTRACTION for Pigeon Forge Guests


NFL -- same/same GI

Clown shoes-Rodeo

 

[Blue wood]

This will be awesome if they handle it right.

Every year ten worthy teams get booted to make room for teams that really don't belong in the tournament but got there by automatic bid.

If this lets the ten worthy teams in why would anybody complain.

Not guaranteed that that's the way they'll run it. But here's hoping.

This is dumbest post I have ever read....no offence

 

[UKWildcats1987]

This will be awesome if they handle it right.

Every year ten worthy teams get booted to make room for teams that really don't belong in the tournament but got there by automatic bid.

If this lets the ten worthy teams in why would anybody complain.

Not guaranteed that that's the way they'll run it. But here's hoping.

10 worthy teams get booted? None of those teams are worthy if they can't get an at large now. Adding more cupcakes isn't exciting to me.

 

[RunninRichie]