NCAA President: 'There's Room' for CBB Tournament to Expand to 72 or 76 Teams

NCAA President Charlie Baker said on the Dan Patrick Show that "there's room to go to something like 72 or 76 teams" in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Baker made that remark in response to a comment from Dan Patrick, who said: "We're not going to 96 (teams) any time soon for March Madness."

Baker emphatically denied that March Madness would expand to 96 teams before noting the possibility of 72 or 76. However, he also said that some work would have to be done before that ever happened.

Both the men's and women's basketball NCAA Division I tournaments currently have 68 teams make the field.

There's already been momentum toward expansion. Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported on Feb. 13 that "commissioners of the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and, yes, even the Pac-12 opened dialogue with Baker about their wish to examine NCAA tournament expansion." That chat reportedly happened during a Jan. 25 in-person meeting in Washington D.C.

The key issue is having more access to the tournament as an at-large team.

"However, discussions between the commissioners and NCAA go beyond the topic of revenue and also include the growing wish for more access in the form of at-large spots," Dellenger reported.

"In the meeting with Baker, commissioners were transparent about their desire for more access in a 68-team field that includes 32 automatic qualifying spots — 27 of which go to non-power leagues."

Dellenger even went to far as to call the expansion of the tournament "inevitable," and that'a a sentiment one could perhaps feel even further after seeing Baker's comments to Patrick.

Of course, there's logistics in the way, but if the wave of momentum is surging toward 72 or 76, then it appears it'll happen at some point.

For now, though, the tournaments remain at 68 teams. This season's men's First Four starts on March 18, while the women's First Four begins March 20.