Overview
- The plan, reported Friday by Yahoo Sports and echoed by Reuters and Newsweek, is expected to be finalized shortly after this year’s Final Fours.
- The format adds a 24-team opening round between lower-seeded automatic qualifiers and the last at-large picks, with 12 winners joining 52 teams already placed.
- Those games would be held on Tuesday and Wednesday at two sites that include Dayton, Ohio, with a second host still to be named.
- CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery hold rights through 2031, and talks over more games and logistics will guide a rollout that could start as soon as 2027.
- Leaders in the Big 12 and ACC and NCAA president Charlie Baker support expansion, while critics say it would dilute the field and sideline more mid-majors.