Greg Sankey says the SEC supports NCAA Tournament expansion

NCAA Tournament expansion is one of the many big changes on the horizon for college sports. No decision has been made yet, but Greg Sankey made it clear this morning that if and when the tournament expands, the SEC will be just fine.

Sankey brought up potential expansion during his opening remarks at SEC Media Days in Atlanta. He mentioned the SEC’s record 14 teams in last season’s men’s tournament and 10 in the women’s as proof that the league will continue to thrive whether or not the field expands from 68 to 72 or 76 teams.

“In general, we are supportive of expanding both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. Nothing in college basketball is static, so tournament expansion is certainly worth exploring. As last season showed, the Southeastern Conference is going to be fine whether the bracket expands or not. We had a record 14 teams selected to participate in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. After what is, without question, a historically successful regular season, we had 10 teams tying our own records selected to participate in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.”

Last week, it seemed that expansion was imminent, one of the top talking points at the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball committees meetings; however, no decisions or recommendations were made. Dan Gavitt, the NCAA senior vice president of basketball, said on Thursday that three options remain on the table: keeping the tournament at 68 teams, expanding to 72, or expanding to 76. The latter options would mean more play-in games on Tuesday and Wednesday of the first week with more at-large teams, mostly from power conferences. Sankey said the SEC is okay with that — as long as the changes make sense.

“We’re going to be fine, but we think there are enough quality teams to make this growth appropriate,” Sankey said this morning. “Now, to be clear, we support expansion, but you just don’t jump into it. So if there are reasons from a broadcast point, financial point, logistics point, or competitive realities that don’t support expansion, then again, we’re going to be fine. But in general, think this is the right direction to at least explore.”

Expansion means more money, so expect this topic isn’t going anywhere. According to Jeff Goodman, the committee is still actively discussing the three options. Whatever ideas or recommendations emerge in the coming weeks will have to be approved by the NCAA Division I Board, which meets in August.