March Madness Expansion Will Be ‘Modest,’ NCAA President Says

Greg Sankey (L), commissioner of the SEC, and Charlie Baker, president of the NCAA, sit courtside as the Florida Gators take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the 2023 SEC Basketball Tournament at the Bridgestone Arena on March 9, 2023, in Nashville. Andy Lyons/Getty Images

In the discussion over expanding the NCAA Tournament, it has always seemed to be a matter of “when” rather than “if.”

That discussion has often involved broadcasters or teams that were left out of the tourney, but now we finally have information directly from the NCAA.

Charlie Baker, president of the organization, recently said the sports calendar would play a role in the tournament adding teams, and thus more games. However, the NCAA is working to do just that, although fans shouldn’t expect a dramatic expansion from the current 68 teams, a format adopted when four teams were added in 2011.

“I think that there’s a real opportunity to do something modest,” Baker told Seth Davis of Hoops HQ. “I mean, the calendar, remember the calendar is really defined right? We have to finish before the Masters and we can’t start until after the conference tournaments are over. So, you know, there’s not a lot of extra days in there. I think for both the men’s and the women’s tournaments, whatever we do here would have to be done within the frame that’s already available.”

In 2024, the last of the conference tournaments ended on March 17, which was also Selection Sunday. The First Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament then began on Tuesday, March 19, with the National Championship Game then taking place on Monday, April 8, which was just three days before the Masters began. CBS being the main broadcaster of both March Madness and the Masters further complicates things, but there still are avenues to squeeze in more games.

Several of the non-power conferences held their tournaments a week earlier, with the earliest ending on March 9. Other conference tournaments could also be pushed up to start, and end, earlier. Or, the additional NCAA Tournament games could be contested on what’s currently reserved for the First Four days on Tuesday and Wednesday. Starting the Masters later is the least likely change to be made as it’s locked into the first week of April.

Thus, some finagling would have to occur among the individual conferences, the NCAA itself and the broadcast partners, for not only the men’s tournament but the women’s tournament as well. However, Baker doesn’t see that as too big of an obstacle to give fans the expansion they’ve been clamoring for.

“Do I think it’s possible that we come up with something where we could make this work? I think it certainly is possible,” Baker stated. “We’re working on it, we’re working with the committees on it. We’re working with the conferences on it. We’re working with our media partners on it. I think it’s probably gonna take a lot of effort on the part of everybody to come up with something that would expand the tournament.

“But I don’t think you’re gonna see dramatic expansion. I certainly think you see enough expansion so that a whole new set of folks will end up being on the bubble.”

Baker weighing in on expansion comes at a convenient time, as not only did the 2024-25 NCAA Men’s Basketball season tip off on Monday, but this also happens to be the first season of expansion within the College Football Playoff. The CFP began with four teams in 2014, and after a decade of status quo, it is expanding to 12 teams for this season and next. There have already been discussions to then expand it beyond a dozen teams starting with the 2026 college football season.

Prior to the expansion to 68 teams in 2011, the NCAA men’s basketball tourney had just one play-in game, and thus 65 teams from 2001-10. Before that, the NCAA Tournament had 64 teams from 1985–2000, with that 16-year period being the longest in NCAA Tournament history without adding teams. When the tourney began in the 1939–40 season, it had just eight teams.

Also working in the NCAA’s favor to expand is that the last few years have shown increased parity in college basketball with more competitive lower seeds. For so long, an argument against expansion was the fact that No. 1 seeds were undefeated against No. 16 seeds, so why add teams that aren’t even as good as the 16-seeds? However, two No. 16 seeds have pulled off upsets over No. 1 seeds since 2018, with University of Maryland, Baltimore County, defeating Virginia that year, and Fairleigh Dickinson knocking off Purdue in 2023. Thus, there are now legitimate basketball reasons to consider adding teams.

The 2025 NCAA Tournament, the 86th edition of March Madness, is scheduled to begin on March 18. It will conclude with the National Championship game on April 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.