The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are expanding to 76 teams, creating a larger March Madness field for both championships.
For the men’s tournament, the move represents the biggest increase in the field since 1985, when the event expanded significantly and established the modern tournament structure. For the women’s tournament, it is the first expansion since 2022.
A Larger March Madness Field
The change will add teams to both brackets, increasing the size of the postseason stage for men’s and women’s college basketball. The tournaments will now feature 76 teams apiece, continuing the NCAA’s recent adjustments to its championship format.
The expansion is one of the most notable structural changes to March Madness in years, particularly on the men’s side, where the field size has remained largely stable since the 1980s. On the women’s side, the adjustment follows a more recent expansion and further aligns the scale of the two national tournaments.