NCAA President Charlie Baker mentioned Thursday he sees worth in increasing the NCAA Match by a handful of groups and desires to achieve a choice on the matter within the subsequent few months.
Baker spoke throughout Large 12 spring conferences, the place convention leaders are discussing every part from the multibillion-dollar revenue-sharing Home settlement to complexities introduced on by the switch portal and identify, picture and likeness compensation.
Baker mentioned the thought of increasing from 68 groups to 72 or 76.
“We’ve had good conversations with CBS and WBD,” Baker mentioned, referring to Warner Bros. Discovery, whose holdings embrace the Turner networks that air NCAA Match video games. “Our aim right here is to attempt to form of get to both sure or no someday within the subsequent few months as a result of there’s loads of logistical work that might be related to doing this. If we had been to go down this street, you simply take into consideration the opening weekends, who has to journey the longest, it will get sophisticated.”
Zach Freemantle of the Xavier Musketeers celebrates because the clock runs out towards the Texas Longhorns through the First 4 spherical of the 2025 NCAA Males’s Basketball Match. (Picture by Grace Bradley/NCAA Images by way of Getty Photos)
The NCAA Males’s event expanded from 64 to 68 groups in 2011, with the Girls’s event leaping to 68 groups after the 2020-2021 season, following a assessment of gender equality between the boys’s and girls’s aspect that additionally allowed the latter to make use of “March Insanity” branding. The change launched the First 4 spherical, a set of pre-tournament video games the place the 4 lowest-seeded at-large groups and 4 lowest-seeded convention champions compete for spots within the conventional 64-team bracket.
Baker indicated that the present formulation has flaws and mentioned it might be helpful to provide extra alternatives to worthy groups.
“If in case you have a event that’s received 64 or 68 groups in it, you’re going to have a bunch of groups which are most likely amongst what most individuals would contemplate to be one of the best 68 or 70 groups within the nation that aren’t going to make the event, interval,” Baker mentioned. “The purpose behind going from 68 to 72 or 76 is to principally give a few of these faculties that had been most likely among the many 72, 76, 68, 64 greatest groups within the nation a method into the event.”
Baker cited a aggressive Indiana State staff falling wanting the event for example. Indiana State went on to play Seton Corridor within the 2024 NIT title sport, which he known as the most effective video games that spring.
Kansas coach Invoice Self mentioned fellow Large 12 coaches appear to favor an NCAA tourney growth. The Large 12 had seven bids in 2025, half the full of the SEC.
“There was a bit of bit that was introduced forth and the consensus among the many coaches, despite the fact that it was little or no, could be in favor of that,” he mentioned. “I don’t know should you may make it the place it was completely equitable all the best way throughout the board for everyone. Actually, there’s going to be outliers on each state of affairs.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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