NCAA President Baker Supports March Madness Expansion Plans for 2026-27

NCAA President Charlie Baker is advocating for the expansion of the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament beyond the current 68-team format, potentially increasing the field to 72 or 76 teams by the 2026-27 season. Baker expressed frustration that deserving teams, such as St. John's and Indiana State, have been left out of the tournament in recent years, emphasizing that expansion would allow more worthy teams to participate. The proposed expansion could involve expanding the "First Four" play-in games to include more automatic qualifiers and lower-seeded at-large teams, possibly moving to a "straight-seeding" model that limits early play-in games to the lowest-ranked teams. While expansion may not generate significantly more revenue due to existing broadcast deals with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery, it is supported by power conference leaders like Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who noted the growing competitiveness within conferences. The NCAA's basketball committee will ultimately decide if and how to expand, with Baker hopeful that a solution can be reached soon. Overall, the consensus among NCAA leadership is that expansion is inevitable, aiming to address fairness and inclusion of competitive programs.