3 reasons why NCAA Tournament expansion to 76 teams will be a big mistake

The debate around the NCAA Tournament expansion has dominated discourse among fans and analysts in the past few weeks. NCAA President Charlie Baker revealed on Thursday during the Big 12 spring meeting that the matter was being seriously considered ahead of the 2025-2026 season.

While the debate about the NCAA Tournament has continued unabated in the past few weeks, both fans and analysts have had mixed views on the matter. Below, we take a look at why the expansion would be a mistake.

Will the NCAA Tournament expansion be a mistake?

#3. Potential for a smaller pot

The NCAA Tournament has up to 132 units, each worth up to $2 million, according to ESPN, with the SEC getting a record $70 million payout after the 2025 edition.

Despite the speculated expansion in future editions, FrontOfficeSports reported that teams could even get a smaller pot should the field get bigger, with networks not obligated to increase the pot payable to the increasingly powerful conferences.

“I believe CBS and TNT will offer them zero—or a minus amount," a media executive told FOS. "They’re expanding the earliest round for no apparent reason other than the powers that be think it’s worth more.”

Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount currently pay $870 million every year for the rights to the men's tournament, while ESPN holds the rights to the women's tournament, valued at $65 million.

#2. No significant increase in fan interest

The current scheduling of the NCAA Tournament means that the first-round games are played on Tuesday and Wednesday, with two games at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET, and those games have the lowest TV viewership of the whole tournament, per an ESPN report. An expansion would necessitate squeezing in more matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday before the tournament proper tips off on Thursday.

Analyst John Ourand highlighted the issue during Friday's segment of "The Varsity" podcast while pointing out that it was unlikely to create fan interaction with the earlier games.

"These are the issues that they need to work through," Ourand said. "First, any expansion would put more games on the opening two days of the tournament, the Tuesday and Wednesday, the so-called play-in games.

"These games aren’t going to create any new windows for the TV networks. And the fact is that the networks don’t place a lot of value on the added four college basketball games, or however many there are."

#1. The competition will get weaker

There has been concern among analysts that the NCAA Tournament expansion will further dilute what is already seen as a weak field during March Madness.

During Monday's segment of the "CBS Sports" podcast, analyst Jon Rothstein dissected these concerns while highlighting the controversial inclusion of the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2025 edition of the tournament as proof.

"Shouldn't the greatest tournament in sports be an exclusive club?" Rothstein said. "Shouldn't the greatest tournament in sports be something you have to work for? Because if you cover the NCAA Tournament and if you cover college basketball like I do, you know this, every single year all we talk about is how weak the bubble has gotten. And now, there wants to be the belief to expand this tournament by four teams or by eight teams.

"I am not wavering in what I said on Selection Sunday last year that, 'North Carolina making the NCAA Tournament was the most unfathomable decision that I have ever seen by the selection committee in 20 years of doing this on national beat.'"

The last time the NCAA Tournament expanded was in 2011, when it moved from a 65-team to a 68-team field, introducing the first round, where the lowest-seeded at-large bid teams and the lowest-seeded conference champions are pitted against each other.