The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will expand to 76 teams starting with the 2026-27 season. A formal announcement is expected in mid-May after contracts are signed.
24 teams will qualify for the Tuesday-Wednesday play-in games instead of 8, at two sites. Dayton is expected to remain one of them, the other will be west of the Eastern Time Zone.
This means that 8 teams that would have previously started tournament play on Thursday or Friday will start on Tuesday or Wednesday.