After years of speculation, the NCAA made it official Thursday: March Madness is getting bigger. The Division I men's and women's basketball committees voted unanimously to expand the NCAA Tournament from 68 to 76 teams, the NCAA announced, with the change set to take effect in 2027 pending approval from additional committees.
CBS Sports first reported the approved expansion earlier Thursday. Later that day, an emergency joint meeting of the men's and women's basketball oversight committees was called, and the expansion was again universally approved. The NCAA's Board of Governors and Division I cabinet also signed off on the change.
NCAA Board of Governors Chair Jim Phillips, who also serves as ACC commissioner, issued a statement supporting the decision. "Providing additional access to the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships for Division I programs will be incredibly meaningful, especially to the student-athletes of the eight additional men's and women's programs that receive these coveted bids," Phillips said. "The leadership by President Charlie Baker as well as Dan Gavitt, Lynn Holzman and JoAn Scott has been outstanding. We also appreciate the support of our broadcast partners and corporate champions and partners in making this a reality."
The NCAA cited more championship opportunities for student-athletes, better matchups for fans, and increased investment in the sport as the primary reasons for the expansion.
This is the third time since 2000 that the tournament field has grown. In 2001, the bracket moved from 64 to 65 teams after the Mountain West Conference's creation led the NCAA to maintain 34 at-large bids, adding a play-in game held in Dayton, Ohio. A decade later, in 2011, the current 68-team format was introduced after a proposed 96-team expansion was abandoned due to heavy backlash from media and fans. The new 76-team bracket will create a similarly irregular structure, building on the existing First Four format that was introduced alongside the 68-team field.
The expansion covers both tournaments equally, a point that drew attention given that NCAA sources had maintained for years there was no competitive or financial justification for expanding the women's field. The decision to add 16 total teams across both tournaments will come with significant added costs, the report noted, though the NCAA did not provide specific financial figures in Thursday's announcement.
CBS Sports had reported on April 28 that Thursday's vote was effectively predetermined. The final outcome matched that reporting exactly.
The next required step is approval from the remaining necessary committees before the 76-team format can be fully ratified for the 2027 tournament. No timeline for that final approval was provided Thursday.
