ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said Wednesday that “it’s time to look at” expanding the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, the latest major sign of a rapidly shifting college athletics landscape.
“The time is now,” Phillips, a member of the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee, said during the ACC’s annual preseason basketball event. “The time is now as we’re looking at the overall structure of the NCAA, and one of their responsibilities has been championships. So I’m in favor of looking at it, and I really would like us to expand.”
Phillips’ comments seemingly echo those of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who co-chairs the Transformation Committee and said earlier this summer he was amenable to taking a “fresh look” at the makeup and entry requirements for the NCAA Tournament. Both the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments currently feature 68 teams, including automatic qualifying bids for the 32 conference champions.
Phillips stressed that he is “not interested in cutting back those AQs,” but rather expanding the at-large field for programs investing substantial resources in their respective programs.
“Those AQs matter,” Phillips added. “That’s part of the broad-based opportunities we have in Division I sports, the lower…
