Source: NCAA Basketball Tournament to Move to 76 Teams

The NCAA has begun the final steps to expand the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

The expansion, which has been discussed for more than a year, is on track to become official in the coming weeks and will begin this upcoming season. Sources indicated mid-May as a possible timeline for an announcement.

While approval still has to go through various NCAA committees, a source indicated “these are just formalities.”

“They have what it takes to move forward,” a source said.

NCAA officials met with media partners for the men’s tournament last week, sources told ESPN. According to sources, the parties were in the final stages of a media deal, but they have not been signed.

Once the contracts are complete, the NCAA will also require approval by various committees including the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees, the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee, the Division I Cabinet and the Division I Board of Governors.

In order to vote on various NCAA committees, they must sign contracts for approval.

The expansion is not expected to be a financial loss for the NCAA and its members, but sources insist there will be a gain.

The added money would cover additional logistical costs for both the men’s and women’s tournaments, additional NCAA tournament units that would be viable and still provide “a modest financial boost.”

The primary driver of this move is not money, but access to at-large bids for power conferences. The extension has been pushed by the Powers Convention, which has increased throughout the duration of the current agreement.

The men’s tournament expansion mechanism will include eight additional at-large bids. What is now known as the First Four — eight teams playing four games in Dayton, Ohio — will expand to 12 games played by 24 teams at two sites, one of which was expected to be in Dayton.

The location of the new site has not yet been determined, but it is expected to be west of the Eastern Time Zone for delivery.

The expansion will result in an additional eight men’s games, meaning 24 of the 76 men’s teams will play on Tuesday and Wednesday of the NCAA Tournament. That number now includes eight teams that would qualify for the traditional bracket that would square off, as opposed to the eight at-large additions.

The traditional 64-team men’s bracket will still begin Thursday and will look much the same. The main difference is that more teams that qualify as traditional at-large must play before the 64-team bracket.