March Madness tournaments to expand to 76 teams from next season

Both tournaments will have eight extra games Tournaments will expand for first time in 15 years The NCAA announced on Thursday that it will expand its two March Madness tournaments by eight teams each next season, a long-expected move that will drop more games into the first week of the showcase without substantially changing its overall form. The new, 76-team brackets will jam eight extra games – for a total of 12 involving 24 teams – into the front half of the first week of the men’s and the women’s tournaments. It will turn what’s now known as the First Four into a bigger affair that will now be called the “March Madness Opening Round”. Continue reading...

Associated Press · Thu, May 7, 2026, 12:57 PM
US news | The Guardian

March Madness tournaments to expand to 76 teams from next season

Both tournaments will have eight extra games
Tournaments will expand for first time in 15 years

The NCAA announced on Thursday that it will expand its two March Madness tournaments by eight teams each next season, a long-expected move that will drop more games into the first week of the showcase without substantially changing its overall form.

The new, 76-team brackets will jam eight extra games – for a total of 12 involving 24 teams – into the front half of the first week of the men’s and the women’s tournaments. It will turn what’s now known as the First Four into a bigger affair that will now be called the “March Madness Opening Round”.

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