NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament to expand to 76 teams

TL;DR

The NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments will expand from 68 to 76 teams, allowing more teams to participate. The First Four will transition to an opening round format with 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams.

Key points

NCAA Tournaments expanding from 68 to 76 teams
First Four transitioning to opening round format
More teams will have opportunities to participate

Mentioned in this story

NCAA

Auburn Tigers

March Madness is getting a lot bigger. On Thursday, it was announced that both the Men's and Women's NCAA Basketball Tournaments would be expanding from 68 teams to 76. The decision to expand the tournament had been in the news over the last several months, even though fans and the media have criticized the idea. It is the first expansion for the men's tournament since it went to 68 teams in 2011. The women's tournament made that jump in 2022.

The First Four will now transition to the opening round. Like the First Four, the opening round takes place over two days with six games each day. The teams playing in those games will be the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams. After the opening round, both tournaments will appear unchanged with the same format fans have come accustomed to seeing. Expanding the tournaments will give more teams opportunities to participate in March Madness.

For Auburn, if this format had been in place for the 2025-26 season, they would have made the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The Tigers were the first team out and used that as motivation to win the 2026 National Invitational Tournament. It is unclear how well the Tigers would have done in the NCAA Tournament. Winning the NIT has given the Tigers momentum heading into the 2025-26 season, with starting guards Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton returning. Also, Steven Pearl and staff have done a great job of retooling the Tigers' frontcourt.

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Q&A

What changes are being made to the NCAA Basketball Tournaments?

The tournaments will expand from 68 to 76 teams, introducing an opening round featuring the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams.

When was the last time the NCAA Men's Tournament expanded?

The NCAA Men's Tournament last expanded in 2011 when it increased from 65 to 68 teams.

How will the expansion affect teams like Auburn in the NCAA Tournament?

If the new format had been in place for the 2025-26 season, Auburn would have qualified for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament after being the first team out in the previous season.