The NCAA has officially expanded the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments from 68 to 76 teams, a decision that has received mixed reviews. Even some of the sports’ most accomplished coaches, such as Geno Auriemma, Dan Hurley, and Brad Underwood, lamented the expansion. However, there are coaches on the women’s side who believe the tournament expansion will provide a critical opportunity to grow the game.
“It’s good for program recognition,” BYU Cougars coach Lee Cummard told Front Office Sports. The Cougars were one of the last four teams out of this year’s women’s tournament. “The athletes on our team have unbelievable stories that they need to share with the world, and visibility allows them to share those stories.”
Historically, the women’s tournament has lacked some of the “madness” that has made the men’s tournament such a large draw year in and year out. Only eight lower seeds have advanced past the first round in the past three years, opposed to 24 in the men’s tourney. Mid-major coaches are excited about the increased opportunities they’ll have for recognition on the national stage to increase the number of upsets. Some, however, aren’t so certain that the extra spots won’t go to more teams from high-major conferences.
“The reason for expansion is more money, more TV, all the things that come with lengthening the tournament,” said North Dakota State’s Jory Collins, whose team was one of the first four out this season, with the other three First Four spots going to high-majors. “It gets masked a little bit [like], ‘Hey, we’re giving people more opportunities.’”
“It’s going to come down to, what is the committee doing with these extra spots?” Collins added.
Others think expansion was done primarily for the men’s side, with the women’s tournament only being expanded due to the potential social and legal ramifications of only expanding one tourney.
“My true answer [is] they probably were afraid of a lawsuit,” former Middle Tennessee coach Rick Insell said of both tournaments expanding. “But expanding our women’s game is going to help our game.”
Ultimately, nothing will be clear until 2027’s Selection Sunday.
“At the mid-major level, I don’t know what that exactly means for us,” Collins said. “So we’re kind of in wait-and-see mode.”
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