SEC commissioner Greg Sankey reveals stance on NCAA basketball tournament expansion

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has revealed where he stands on expanding the NCAA men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments.

At the APSE Southeast Region meeting in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Sankey answered whether he thought expanding the field from 68 teams to 76 was necessary.

”Do or die?” Sankey quipped. “In that vein, I would say no.”

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Sankey reflected on what the conversation of tournament expansion was like about four years ago. That June, he had been in meetings with the NCAA and conference commissioners, and the concern was about what might be taken away from the tournament.

“So rather than have that concern exist, addition seems appropriate. That’s one point,” Sankey said.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on NCAA Tournament expansion

Sankey’s second point was that college hoops viewers had seen teams in the 68-team format go from playing in Dayton, Ohio to reach the Sweet 16 and advance to the Final Four.

“Doesn’t happen a lot, but that’s the narrow competitive band that exists,” Sankey continued.

Sankey’s view was the NCAA Tournament should feature ”the top 50 analytically, committee-determined teams.”

“You know, there’s a combination eligible to participate. What we do is give away spots for automatic bids, because that’s the ethos of the term. It seems a reasonable balance,” Sankey said. “And I think all the criticism and negativity, that’s the way social media rolls.”

The expanded tournament will begin with the 2026-27 season and the First Four will evolve into a 12-game opening round.

Sankey also noted other postseason expansions were examined and said the reformatting of the NCAA basketball tournaments was an “expansion by numbers” that was “in line with other expansions.”