Candid Coaches: Should the NCAA Tournament remain at 68 teams, or expand to 72 or 76?

Most fans prefer the field to remain as is, but what about the coaches who build their careers around trying to qualify for March Madness?

By Matt Norlander  & Gary Parrish Aug 29, 2024 at 12:02 pm ET• 9 min read

CBS Sports college basketball insiders Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander spent a month surveying 100-plus Division I men's basketball coaches for our annual Candid Coaches series. They polled across the sport's landscape: some of the biggest names in college basketball, but also small-school assistants in low-major leagues. Coaches agreed to share unfiltered opinions in exchange for anonymity. We asked 10 questions; this is our final edition for 2024.

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For our last Candid Coaches topic this year, let's address The Big Question in college basketball that will almost definitely have an answer by the time we do this again in 2025.

In July, the Division I men's basketball committee continued to discuss what to do, if anything, with the NCAA Tournament. It's a topic that carries as much interest as maybe any other these days in college hoops. There are many who believe no decision should be made; just keep it at 68 and be done with it. 

But the committee is doing its due diligence here, because it sort of has to. Keep in mind that this group of commissioners and ADs is following the formal guidance that came out back at the end of 2022/the beginning of 2023, when the Division I Transformation Committee released a litany of recommendations to modify college athletics. Exploration of potential expansion of all NCAA-sponsored championships (that included at least 200 programs participating in a given sport) was inevitably a hot-topic proposal.