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Why are Greg Sankey and Sean Miller in favor of NCAA Tournament expansion?

by: Keenan Womack07/17/25
Sean Miller
Sean Miller (Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Rumors of NCAA Tournament expansion have come into the forefront of sports discussion recently, since the committees for both men’s and women’s Division-I basketball met this past week discuss the possible move to a 72- or 76-team field. Obviously, the concept has been met with mixed opinions by the basketball-watching contingency. It’s a controversial subject – plenty of fans, coaches, and administrators have adopted the attitude of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

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Some of the top names in the sport have expressed similar disapproval, including Dan Hurley, Nate Oats, Jon Scheyer, and Tom Izzo, who prefer the field to stay at 68 teams. Not featured in this group is Texas head basketball coach Sean Miller, who explained his support for an expanded NCAA Tournament.

“I think the format as it stands today is the greatest sporting event that we have,” Miller said to CBS Sports. “Never before has the tournament felt more even, with few exceptions. On any given night in a 40-minute game, it’s just amazing what can happen. I think adding depth to that will only make what’s already good even better.”

Despite Miller’s opinion, there are more cons than pros for potential expansion. The most compelling argument against it is the fact that it waters down the product, and not just the tournament itself – the more teams that make the postseason, the more devalued the regular season becomes. It also causes conference tournaments to become even more of an afterthought.

The pros of expansion are mostly financial, and benefit institutions more than players or fans – sure, it would allow more “bubble” teams to compete, but how many of those teams are going to make a true run at a championship? How many more competitive games will these additions produce? While there are a group of extra schools that will see an increase in exposure, the prospect of going to a 72 or more teams is still vastly unpopular.

Of course, more SEC teams could get in, and perhaps this is a part of why conference commissioner Greg Sankey said this week at Media Days that he supports the idea.

“In general, we support bracket expansion for both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Nothing else in college basketball is static, so tournament expansion is worth exploring. We think there are enough quality teams across the country to merit giving this growth full consideration. To be clear, we support expansion but will be fine if finances, planning, broadcast opportunities, or competitive realities do not justify growth.”

Last season, the SEC received a record 14 bids to the national tournament, including the Longhorns, who lost their First Four matchup to Xavier, eventually resulting in the firing of then-coach Rodney Terry and the hiring of Miller. The only two teams that did not receive bids were LSU and South Carolina, who combined for 5-31 in conference play. The overall decision to allow for so many bids to the Southeastern was hotly contested, with Texas being one of the more controversial additions to the 68-team field, but the conference’s performance in the tournament overall seemed to help justify their case.

Ultimately, it’s likely that the committee eventually opts for expansion, despite what most personnel and fanbases want. In college athletics, like any business, decision making is going to be tied to financial incentive, for better or for worse. More teams means more games, and more games means more revenue. That’s something a businessman like Greg Sankey can always appreciate.

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