Baker sees value in expanding March Madness

ORLANDO, Fla. -- NCAA president Charlie Baker sees worth successful expanding the NCAA tourney by a fistful of teams and wants to scope a determination successful the adjacent fewer months, helium said Thursday.

Baker spoke during Big 12 outpouring meetings, wherever league leaders are discussing everything from the multibillion dollar revenue-sharing colony to complexities brought connected by the transportation portal and name, representation and likeness.

"We've had bully conversations with CBS and WBD," Baker said astir adding 4 to 8 teams. "Our extremity present is to effort to benignant of get to either yes oregon nary sometime successful the adjacent fewer months due to the fact that there's a batch of logistical enactment that would beryllium associated with doing this. If we were to spell down this road, you conscionable deliberation astir the opening weekends, who has to question the longest, it gets complicated."

The NCAA tourney expanded from 65 to 68 teams successful 2011. The alteration introduced the First Four round, a acceptable of games wherever the 4 lowest-seeded at-large teams and 4 lowest-seeded league champions vie for a spot successful the accepted 64-team bracket.

Baker said determination are flaws successful the existent look and that it would beryllium beneficial to springiness much opportunities to worthy teams.

"If you person a tourney that's got 64 oregon 68 teams successful it, you're going to person a clump of teams that are astir apt among what astir radical would see to beryllium the champion 68 oregon 70 teams successful the state that aren't going to marque the tournament, period," Baker said. "The constituent down going from 68 to 72 oregon 76 is to fundamentally springiness immoderate of those schools that were astir apt among the 72, 76, 68, 64 champion teams successful the state a mode into the tournament."