ROSEMONT, Ill. — Count Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti among the college sports leaders touting a larger NCAA Tournament for men’s and women’s basketball.
In June, conference commissioners saw a pair of future models that could grow the NCAA Tournament from 68 teams to 72 or 76. The expansion could come as early as the 2025-26 season, The Athletic previously reported.
“I think there’s some positive feelings towards expansion in our league,” Petitti said at Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball media days. “I just need to hear more about how (the seeding) would work, depending on how many teams they add, what the site looks like, what the first two days look like, because it’s just not as simple as saying add more teams.”
Petitti said he did not support overhauling the selection process or securing additional automatic qualifiers beyond the conference tournament champions. “We’re committed to the NCAA Tournament the way it is,” he said.
Tournament expansion was one of many basketball-related topics the second-year commissioner discussed last week. Petitti also shed light on the league’s scheduling models for both men’s and women’s basketball, opportunities to capitalize on the popularity of women’s basketball post-Caitlin Clark and taking the…
