The biggest hurdle on the path toward expanding the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams has now been cleared.
On Thursday, the Division I men's and women's basketball committees unanimously voted in favor of NCAA tournament expansion beginning in 2027, according to CBS Sports' Matt Norlander. The move still needs to be approved by several other committees, however.
The men's and women's oversight committees scheduled an emergency meeting for Thursday, and expansion will also need to be approved by the Division I cabinet when they meet on May 22. After that, it will go to the NCAA board of governors for approval.
At this point, though, that is likely all a formality. Thursday's move signifies that the NCAA is indeed moving toward an expanded field, which will create eight new at-large bids beginning next season.
It will be the first expansion to the NCAA tournament since the addition of the First Four in 2011, when the NCAA initially approved a plan for a 96-team tournament before reversing course. That followed the addition of a play-in game in 2001 that expanded the field from 64 teams to 65.
The First Four is now a thing of the past and will be replaced by a 24-team "opening round" held on Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday. The 12 winners will then slot into the 64-team bracket, which will begin on Thursday as usual.
Expanding the NCAA tournament has certainly proven to be controversial, but it seems that barring another 11th-hour change as we saw in 2011, it's going to become a reality.
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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: March Madness expansion likely after NCAA votes for 76-team format
