NCAA March Madness Tournaments Set to Expand to 76 Teams in 2027
The NCAA men's and women's March Madness tournaments are set to expand from 68 to 76 teams starting in 2027. This expansion raises questions about how the additional bids will be distributed among mid-major and power-conference teams.
Orlando Daytona Beach Melbourne, FL, October 22, 2026 —
The NCAA men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments are set to grow from 68 teams to 76 teams beginning in 2027, an expansion that will add eight places to each field.
The change leaves an important question about selection unanswered: how the additional bids will be divided between mid-major and power-conference teams. The available information does not specify how many places either group will receive, or whether the selection process will change.
That distribution will shape how the larger fields affect teams competing for tournament invitations. Additional places could be allocated in different ways, but no allocation plan or selection criteria were provided in the announcement summary. It also does not describe how the expansion will affect the tournaments’ formats, schedules or qualification procedures.
The tournaments are scheduled to adopt the 76-team fields in 2027. The summary does not provide a specific start date, details about implementation, or information about how the expansion was approved. It also does not identify officials or organizations that could answer questions about the selection process.
For now, the stated change is the increase in field size for both tournaments. How the eight additional bids in each field will be distributed—and what that means for mid-major and power-conference teams—remains unspecified.
Story summarized from the original created by Aaron Beard, Associated Press on www.clickorlando.com, see more information here.
