NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Expansion 'Not Imminent' Despite Recent Discussions

Despite recent discussions from the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee about increasing the number of teams in the tournament field, expansion isn't likely to happen soon.

Per a report from NCAA.com, an expansion of the tournament field is "not imminent."

Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball, explained the committee and staff "will continue studying options and gathering feedback from various constituents," but it "remains to be seen" if the tournament will expand.

Speaking to Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports in March, Gavitt said expanding the tournament hasn't been seriously discussed since the NCAA hired him in 2013.

"Those very infrequent times when it has been up for consideration, the conversation has been very brief," Gavitt said. "I'd categorize it as 30 minutes or less. There has not been any interest from past basketball committees in even entertaining the idea of expanding."

In February, The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach and Mike Vorkunov reported the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee submitted a recommendation to the Division I board of directors that included an advisement that "all team sports sponsored by more than 200 institutions consider expanding their postseason fields to 25 percent of the teams" that meet the criteria.

There are currently 352 Division I men's basketball teams, not including 11 in the process of reclassifying from Division II. The NCAA tournament includes 68 teams, or 19.3 percent of all men's teams.

Increasing the figure to 25 percent would add approximately 20 teams to the men's tournament field.

Per a Jan. 4 report from CBS Sports' Matt Norlander, there's a "stern belief among many NCAA Tournament power brokers" that any significant expansion "isn't desired and won't be happening."

Norlander described "significant expansion" as anything more than 80 teams. He also noted minor expansion to either 72 or 76 teams "would theoretically be more plausible way down the road," but it's not a priority right now.

The men's tournament has expanded twice in the past 22 years, starting in 2001 when an extra team was added to take the field from 64 to 65. It expanded again in 2011 to the current format with 68 teams.