Musketeer Madness

Pete Thamel @PeteThamel
Sources: The NCAA has initiated the final steps to expand the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams. The expansion is on track to be formalized in the upcoming weeks, with mid-May as the target. The 76-team tournaments begin next year.

From ESPN; Once the contracts are completed, the NCAA also would need approval from various committees that include the men's and women's basketball committees, the men's and women's basketball oversight committees, the Division I cabinet and the Division I board of governors.

The mechanics of the expansion in the men's tournament would include eight additional at-large bids. What's known now as the First Four -- eight teams playing four games in Dayton, Ohio -- would expand to 12 games played by 24 teams at two sites, one of which was expected to remain in Dayton.

The location of the new site has yet to be determined, but it was expected to be west of the Eastern time zone to help with logistics.

Just start March Madness with the start of conference tournaments... That way every team makes the tourney and everyone can hang a banner... Dan

Football going to 16 or 24 will be next

The practical upside is obvious. Eight more at-large bids means fewer major-conference bubble teams getting left out after one bad conference tournament loss, and it gives the women’s side more room too, which matters as interest and depth keep growing. From a business perspective, more games means more inventory for TV partners, more ad revenue, and more content during one of the most valuable stretches on the sports calendar. That’s almost certainly the real engine behind this.