The NCAA is expanding both the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments starting next season, increasing each bracket to 76 teams. Multiple outlets report the expansion adds eight teams to each tournament. The NCAA moves these additional teams and games into the early portion of the schedule, adding more matchups during the first week. The change does not substantially alter the overall structure of the tournaments, but it increases the number of games played in the front half of the week.
Under the new format described by outlets, the additional games are incorporated by expanding what has been known as the First Four. The NCAA is expected to rename the expanded early-round portion as the “March Madness Opening Round,” reflecting that it will now include more games and involve more teams than before. Sources describe that the expansion produces eight extra games for each tournament, with a total of 12 games involving 24 teams in the early-round period. The NCAA’s announcement is presented as a long-awaited adjustment, the first expansion of this kind in years.
