INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The NCAA officially approved the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments to expand from 68 to 76 teams.
The new format includes an expanded First Four in Dayton, Ohio, now to 12 teams.
The lowest-ranked six automatic qualifiers (two No. 15 seeds and all four No. 16 seeds) and the lowest-ranked six at-large bids (two No. 11 seeds and all four No. 12 seeds) will now play in the newly-named “Opening Round” across Dayton and another unknown city, likely in the West.
The expansion is the first since 2011, when the First Four debuted, bumping from 64 to 68 teams.
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