NCAA committee pausing all expansion talks until after 2026 NCAA Tournament

NCAA Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt announced the committee exploring potential NCAA Tournament expansion will pause all discussion until after this year’s 2026 March Madness, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.

Gavitt’s announcement came several hours after NCAA president Charlie Baker told assembled media he’s in favor of further NCAA Tournament expansion before the organization’s annual mock NCAA Tournament seeding exercise Thursday at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.

“We’re still talking about it,” Baker told reporters Thursday morning, according to Borzello. “I’d like to see it expand.”

The idea of NCAA Tournament expansion beyond its current 68-team field has long been a point of contention between collegiate power brokers and college basketball fans for years. NCAA executives and its member schools see major dollar-signs at the thought of renegotiating the tournament’s current media rights deal for the NCAA’s biggest money-making product, especially during a precarious time for college athletics. Meanwhile, college basketball fans worry further expansion will only water down the already-entertaining postseason format.

Not that fan discontent has slowed down expansion talks. In fact, Yahoo! Sports insider and On3 contributor Ross Dellenger reported last October that further NCAA Tournament expansion “is becoming closer to reality.” And, based on discussions at that time, the expectation was that the field would likely expand from 68 to 76 teams beginning with the 2026-27 season.

Per the 76-team proposal passed around last Fall, the additional eight teams would be added to the current “First Four” play-in round currently held on the Thursday and Friday before the full 64-team first-round slate kicks off during the tournament’s opening weekend. The new play-in round would then feature 24 teams playing 12 games over two days before the winners join the other 52 teams already in the traditional first-round field that initial weekend.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Gavitt put the breaks on March Madness expansion talk, releasing a similar statement last August after speculation raged that the NCAA was nearing a potential decision just prior to the start of the current 2025-26 season. Gavitt firmly confirmed any potential expansion progress would only impact the 2027 tournament at the earliest.

“Expanding the tournament fields is no longer being contemplated for the 2026 men’s and women’s basketball championships,” Gavitt said in an Aug. 4 statement, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “However, the committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2027 championships.”

— On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.