A decision on future NCAA Tournament expansion for men’s and women’s basketball isn’t expected to happen before the end of this season, NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt told CBS Sports on Thursday. Beyond that, Gavitt told CBS Sports there remains a possibility that the tournament doesn’t expand at all, at least not in the “near-term.”
“The most important thing to get across,” Gavitt said on the Eye on College Basketball podcast, “this is definitely not a fait accompli. The recommendation to not expand the tournaments is absolutely a potential outcome here in the short-term.”
The reasons for potentially deferring a decision on expansion are tied to myriad cumbersome financial issues, in addition to differing opinions within the NCAA on the competitive viability of expanding both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Many in the NCAA are proud of the tradition, distinct marketability and symmetrical appeal of the March Madness bracket that’s been built out over the past 40 years, with a formula that is unmatched in American sports.
“The committees are continuing their ongoing analysis of whether or not to expand the championships, and if so, how to go about doing that,” Gavitt said.
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