NCAA Tournament Reportedly to Expand for 2027, How Many Teams Will Compete in March Madness?

The NCAA Division I men's and women's tournaments are reportedly set to expand to 76 teams, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.

"The expansion, which has been discussed for well over a year, is on track to be formalized in the upcoming weeks and would begin this coming season," Thamel wrote. "Sources indicated mid-May as a potential timeline for an announcement."

Ultimately, each tournament will receive eight additional at-large teams. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, who confirmed the news, reported more on the logistics.

"Opening round will be split between at-large + auto bids, expanding out current First Four format," Norlander wrote. "All 16-seeds and half the 15s will be slotted into the Tuesday/Wednesday of the opening round. The other half will be a mix depending on team quality. 11s, 12s and maybe a 13."

As Thamel noted, that means eight teams that would have qualified for the Round of 64 under the current tournament structure would now be in the new "opening round."

The opening round will now be featured in two locations to accommodate the additional games. Dayton, Ohio, which has been the home of the men's First Four, will remain one of them. The other location is to be determined, but Thamel reported that it is expected to be west of the Eastern Time Zone "to help logistics."

As far as why this is happening, Thamel said that access to the tournament has been the driver for the decision from the power conferences.

"The driver of this move hasn't been money, but rather access," Thamel wrote. "The expansion has been driven by power conferences, which have grown throughout the course of the current deal."

Of course, more access means more money for those schools and conferences as well, but there's always been consternation about the bubble and more teams getting in, even if 68 were going to the Big Dance already since 2011.

The 64-team portion of the bracket, featuring 16 games a day on Thursday and Friday in one of the most exciting stretches sports fan offer and that fans have come to know and love, won't change, per se.

The big winners here are the power conferences who can slide in teams that hover more around .500 overall and do poorly in league play. The likes of Auburn, Indiana and Oklahoma, for example, would have found their way in this year.

Smaller schools will get hurt. Simply put, more of them have to play their way into the Round of 64 now even if they won their conference tournament. The true start of the tournament has always been that Thursday, and more schools have to fight their way to get there.

As it stands, the tournament is increasing, truly marking the biggest expansion in 42 years.