NCAA Tournament expands to 76 teams, squeezing mid-majors out of first round

The NCAA Tournament will feature 76 teams starting with the 2026-2027 season, marking the largest structural shift in the postseason in four decades. The season opens Sunday with a matchup between Notre Dame and Villanova in Rome. This expansion surpasses the 1985 jump from 48 to 64 teams, fundamentally altering how the initial rounds function.

The previous First Four games are being replaced by a new Opening Round consisting of 12 matches. Selection Sunday remains the start date, but the preliminary action will now span Tuesday and Wednesday. Dayton, Ohio, and Wichita, Kansas, will each host six of these games. By Thursday, the bracket for the first round will revert to its traditional appearance, though the path to that point has changed.

Under the old 68-team format, 60 of the 64 first-round participants began their tournament run in that round. In the new 76-team structure, only 52 of the 64 teams playing on Thursday or Friday will start in the first round. The remaining 12 teams will enter the bracket after winning Opening Round games. This shift changes the composition of the main field significantly.

CBS Sports preseason projections place Duke as the No. 1 overall seed. The Blue Devils return four key players from a 35-3 squad and added the nation's second-ranked freshman class. Their roster includes Wisconsin's John Blackwell and 17-year-old Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje. Duke defeated Tennessee 103-64 and beat Kansas 90-84 in preseason play. The projection favors Duke over Florida due to a lighter schedule in the ACC compared to the SEC.

The expansion creates pressure for mid-major conferences. The number of automatic bids rises to 32 with the Pac-12's return as the 32nd Division I conference. Historically, at least seven conferences produce multiple bids each year. If eight leagues earn multiple bids in 2027, 24 conferences will remain with single bids. In that scenario, 12 of the 24 single-bid conference champions would likely play in the Opening Round.

Previously, only four single-bid teams played in the preliminary round. Last season, 29 of 31 automatic qualifiers remained for the first round. Under the new format, just 26 automatic qualifiers will remain for Thursday's action. The other 38 teams in the first round will be at-large selections, most from high-major conferences. This means fewer mid-major teams will participate in the traditional first weekend of the tournament.

The preseason projection lists 13 teams for the SEC, 10 for the Big Ten, 9 for the Big 12, and 9 for the ACC. The Big East is projected with 5 teams, the Pac-12 with 3, and the Atlantic 10 with 2. The structure ensures that while more mid-major teams may win games in the tournament, those victories will occur on Tuesday and Wednesday against other mid-majors rather than during the main event on Thursday.