March Madness, the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, could see a significant change in the future after the NCAA transformation committee produced recommendations that will be under consideration at the 2023 NCAA convention.
According to the report, the committee is recommending the inclusion of more teams in the NCAA postseason championships. More specifically, exactly 25% of teams in the sport would be included in these tournaments.
The current format has 68 teams and to reach the 25% mark, it would need to be around 90 teams in a significant change. It should be noted that it is not an official modification as it needs to be approved.
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March Madness could face significant expansion for the 2024-25 season, plus more details
The idea of March Madness expanding is not one that many expected to hear as the current system has worked very well for countless years. Yet, it is now something to monitor moving forward.
The report states an initial review for expanding NCAA championship brackets will take place by June 2023 while final recommendations will be in effect by January 2024.
After these crucial dates, the implementation of expanding the championships would take place for the 2024-25 season. This means the March Madness events in 2023 and 2024 would remain the same.
However, there could be an issue for those who want this change to occur. According to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, many in the basketball world are not in support of expanding March Madness.
One member of the Division 1 Council had this to say to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman about the recommendations.
“This has not been shared with the Council, they went straight to the media. Complete lack of professional courtesy for the rest of us. This is the one thing that doesn’t need fixing, but it’s all about Greg Sankey and the big boys trying to get as many bids, and as much money as possible. This would ruin what makes the NCAA tournament special.”
Anonymous member of the Division 1 Council to Jeff Goodman
It is clear that people are not enthused with the idea of expansion for the reasons that were listed above. The current system has not seen many issues and has been very solid for countless years.
Stay tuned for any more updates on the possibility of March Madness expanding to around 90 teams for the 2024-25 season.