Sources: NCAA nears decision on larger tourney

A determination connected whether oregon not to grow the NCAA men's and women's hoops tournaments volition beryllium made successful the upcoming weeks, sources told ESPN.

If the determination is made to expand, the enlargement would statesman successful the 2025-26 season, per sources, and the tourney would grow to nary much than 76 teams. Sources person indicated to ESPN for months that 76 is the much apt enlargement enactment than 72, arsenic the existent format for the men's and women's tourney is 68 teams.

The NCAA remains successful talks with its media partners astir the imaginable expansion, which person been ongoing for months.

An enlargement of the tourney would beryllium a historical and perchance arguable measurement for the NCAA. An eight-team summation would beryllium the biggest leap successful however the men's NCAA hoops tourney has been compromised since 1985.

The men's tourney expanded to 64 teams successful 1985. An further squad was added successful 2001, and the enlargement to the existent 68-team format came backmost successful 2011.

The anticipation is that some the men's and women's tournaments would turn by the aforesaid magnitude of teams.

NCAA president Charlie Baker has been unfastened successful talking publically astir tourney expansion, telling reporters astatine Big 12 gathering successful May that the NCAA is having "good conversation" with its media partners.

Baker said astatine the time: "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."

One of the logistics would beryllium the expected summation of astatine slightest 1 further site, specified arsenic Dayton successful the men's NCAA tournament. ESPN reported successful February that a determination would beryllium expected to beryllium extracurricular the Eastern Time zone.