Big 12 basketball coaches in favor of NCAA Tournament expansion, per Bill Self

The College Football Playoff is not the only postseason with talks of expansion. Moving the NCAA Tournament from 64 teams has been discussed for quite some time now, bringing mixed reactions. Coaches are now getting in on the discussion and appear open to the idea of adding extra teams to March Madness.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Kansas‘ Bill Self said head coaches in the conference are in favor of expanding the NCAA Tournament. This came from Big 12 Spring Meetings, where men’s basketball coaches and other league officials met.

“Bill Self is speaking from Big 12 meetings in Orlando,” Henry Greenstein of the Lawrence Journal-World said via X. “He said the league’s coaches would be in favor of expanding the NCAA Tournament.”

Making the NCAA Tournament has never been an issue for Self at Kansas. He has appeared in the postseason every single year in Lawrence, usually finding a good amount of success. Two national championships and another two Final Fours are on the resume.

From a Big 12 perspective, the conference saw seven teams get into the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Three of those were recent expansion programs — Arizona, BYU, and Houston. West Virginia was the First Team Out as well, falling one spot shy of being included in the field.

Back in February, ESPN’s Pete Thamel provided an update on where NCAA Tournament expansion sits. The number leaders are targeting appears to be 76, adding eight teams to the mix. A move could be made as soon as the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

“There’s development behind the scenes about what this tournament could look like in 2026,” Thamel said on College GameDay. “NCAA President Charlie Baker is on the record saying there’s been discussions about growing the tournament to either 72 or 76 teams. I had multiple high ranking sources tell me this week that the more likely option if the tournament were to expand would be to 76. This has been a discussion with its media partners for a while on this now, and a decision on whether it does go to 76 would come in the next few months.” 

Opinions across college basketball are going to differ on the topic. Some will be in favor of adding other spots, while others believe the event is perfect as is. Feedback from coaches might wind up being the most important and in the Big 12, they would give the thumbs up to expansion.