By Cavan Nicholas
Since 2011, the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament has been stalled at 68 teams until the NCAA officially made the switch to 76 ahead of the 2026-2027 season. For fans, this means more March Madness with the preliminary round now holding 12 games as opposed to the previous four.
The biggest beneficiary of the expansion is teams that find themselves on the bubble each year. Power conference teams on the border of the tournament will now have more leeway throughout the season for losses. With more at-large bids, fan bases of major college teams have increased expectations for their programs.
One of these beneficiaries is thought to be the Syracuse Men’s basketball team. The Orange have found themselves on the outside looking in for the past five seasons. In their first year under new head coach Gerry McNamara, Syracuse will have a better opportunity to play in the postseason thanks to the new format.
Coaches like McNamara at the Power 5 level have less room for error each season. Missing out on the tournament now appears as an even bigger disappointment than before. Programs are more likely to grow restless if coaches fail to take them to the playoffs.
On the other hand, teams from mid-majors are more likely to play a play-in game to earn their spot in the first round of the tournament. This makes beloved Cinderella stories of March less likely with a more difficult path for mid majors.
For fans, this change can take away some of the excitement of March. More games does not necessarily mean a big change to the bracket itself; following the expanded opening round, the tournament will reach its traditional 64 teams.
After months of speculation from fans, insiders, and coaches, the decision from the NCAA came on May 7th of this year. The move was made in hopes of bringing in more revenue from a larger number of viewers, both in-person and on TV, from the additional games. In addition, participating schools combined will make an estimated $131 million in new revenue.
The race to March begins on November 2nd, with many teams seeing a clearer route to the postseason.
