NCAA Tournament expansion a death knell to mid-majors

On Tuesday, ESPN college sports insider Pete Thamel and others reported that the NCAA is set to expand the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments to 76 teams for the upcoming 2026-27 season. "The expansion," Thamel writes, "which has been discussed for well over a year, is on track to be formalized in the upcoming weeks and would begin this coming season." The pending change is another step at marginalizing mid-majors, who will once again be forced to compete for a smaller portion of the pie. CBS Sports college basketball reporter Matt Norlander shared further details about the expansion, revealing 24 teams — instead of eight — will play on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of March Madness, turning the First Four into the First 12. Norlander notes the 24 teams will be a split of programs that earned automatic bids by winning their conferences and at-large representatives. "All 16-seeds and half the 15s will be slotted into the Tuesday/Wednesday of the opening round," Norlander wrote on social media, adding, "The other half will be a mix depending on team quality." More: Opening round will be split between at-large + auto bids, expanding out current First Four format. All 16-seeds and half the 15s will be slotted into the Tuesday/Wednesday of the opening round. The other half will be a mix depending on team quality. 11s, 12s and maybe a 13. With all 16s headed to a sudden-death play-in game to even make the field of 64, our chances of seeing one record an upset of a more rested No. 1 are greatly diminished. The move also means fewer mid-major champs will make the opening Thursday and Friday of March Madness as they battle each other for a lesser number of spots. The NIL and transfer portal era has already put those schools outside of power conferences at a disadvantage. We've seen it firsthand in recent years during the NCAA Tournament as major conferences have swallowed regional semifinal spots. The San Diego State Aztecs out of the Mountain West were the last mid-major to advance to the second weekend, doing so in 2024. Critics of mid-majors and Cinderellas will say those teams don't draw big ratings or that their stories almost always end with a blowout loss on a big stage. But they willingly choose to ignore that there often aren't enough deserving power conference teams for at-large berths. This past season, for example, the Auburn Tigers (16 losses), Oklahoma Sooners (15 losses) and Indiana Hoosiers (14 losses) were among the teams that finished as the first four outside of the 68-team field. In this updated era of the NCAA Tournament, all would have made the field. Instead of the March Madness rewarding the best, the expansion devalues the greatest tournament in sports, making earning a spot something akin to a participation trophy.  Everyone gets a prize, as long as you come from a power conference. Otherwise, you're all out of luck. Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!