NCAA Tournament to Remain at 68 Teams in 2026

The 2026 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments will remain at 68 teams, per a statement from the NCAA’s Dan Gavitt.

“Expanding the tournament fields is no longer being contemplated for the 2026 men’s and women’s basketball championships. However, the committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2027 championships,” Gavitt said.

NCAA SVP Dan Gavitt on future expansion of the NCAA tournament. pic.twitter.com/LMNhaSWM3j

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) August 4, 2025

Pate Thamel of ESPN reported a decision on expansion could come “in the next few weeks” in June.

Recently, NCAA president Charlie Baker added some more fuel to the fire with comments regarding the potential expansion, and it sounds like Baker and the NCAA are looking to expand sooner rather than later.

“We’ve been talking about 72 and 76,” Baker said about the number of teams that would be in the field if these changes happen. “Those have been the numbers the basketball committees talked about. It would obviously be one or the other, won’t be more.”

According to an article by Front Office Sports, the NCAA has been talking with media rights partners CBS and Warner Bros. about the potential expansion.

“We’ve had good conversations with CBS and WBD,” Baker said, according to FOS. “Our goal here is to try to either get to yes or no sometime in the next few months, because there’s a lot of logistical work that would be associated with doing this, if we were to go down this road.”

In a press conference at the Big 12 Basketball Tournament, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark spoke in favor of a field 72 or 76 teams. He mentioned that it should be either of those two numbers and no more.

“I’m in favor of expansion to 76,” Yormark said about the NCAA Tournament. “I think that’s the right number.”

Find more coverage of the potential expansion of the NCAA Tournament at WV Sports Now.