NCAA Basketball Tournaments Exploding to 76 Teams Starting 2027, and the Whole Bracket Just Changed

College basketball is about to get a whole lot bigger. The NCAA is finalizing plans to expand both the men's and women's basketball tournaments from 68 teams to 76 teams beginning in 2027, with the final approvals expected to happen as soon as Thursday, according to ESPN reporting Wednesday night.

This isn't some hypothetical anymore. After expansion talks stretched on for more than a year and with media contracts for the men's tournament basically locked in by late April, the final steps are expected to sail through. The NCAA's own statement from April 28 had left room for doubt, saying "no final recommendations or decisions have been made at this time," but things have clearly moved fast since then.

Here's How the New 76-Team Format Actually Works

The structure is pretty straightforward. Fifty-two teams get seeded directly into the main bracket. The other 24 teams? They play 12 games on the Tuesday and Wednesday right after Selection Sunday, and the winners punch their ticket to the Round of 64. Think of it as a play-in tournament before the tournament gets real.

The terminology is changing too. No more "First Four"? That's gone. Now it's the "opening round" for those 12 play-in games and "first round" for the actual Round of 64. The games are expected to stay in Dayton, Ohio, where the First Four games have been held, with a second site still to be determined.

The First Real Expansion Since 2011

This is the first tournament expansion since 2011, when the field bumped from 65 to 68 teams with the addition of the First Four games. Before that, the tournament had stayed at 64 or 65 teams since 1985. The Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference were the main drivers pushing for this expansion, and even NCAA president Charlie Baker was open about his support in February. "I said all along that I think there are some very good reasons to expand the tournament," Baker told ESPN. "So, I would like to see it expand."

Multiple NCAA committees still need to sign off on this thing, including the men's and women's basketball committees, the men's and women's basketball oversight committees, the Division I cabinet, and the Division I Board of Governors. But based on how Thursday is shaping up, expect this to be officially locked in soon.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.