The topic of March Madness expansion has come up a lot this week as NCAA president Charlie Baker recently revealed that the goal is to get the tournament field bigger ahead of this next season. Right now, 68 teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Eight teams go to the First Four, so by the time the first round starts, there is a 64-team bracket. Next year, there could be as many as 76 teams in the tournament. A lot of people are against the idea, but Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is not one of them.

Spring meetings were underway this week for the Big 12, and there was a lot to discuss. College Football Playoff and March Madness expansion are both big topics that are on the table, and Brett Yormark is fine with the NCAA Tournament growing.

“We’re in favor of it, but the economics need to be right,” Yormark said, according to an article from Front Office Sports. “The NCAA is working very closely with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery on what those economics look like as it relates to potential expansion. So, we’ll see what plays out over the next 45 days or so. But I know NCAA president Charlie Baker is having some really good conversations with the media partners, and hopefully, he can get something done that’s good for all of us.”

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The NCAA is working on extending the March Madness field ahead of next season, and the goal is to get the total amount of teams up to 72 or 76. The reason for expansion is to help teams from smaller conferences get into the field when they don't win their conference tournament. We saw a lot of mid-majors have strong seasons but then fail to qualify for the big dance after losing in the conference tournament. Bid stealers make March Madness what it is, but it is also unforunate when a team that was clearly the best in its conference doesn't get a chance to compete in the big dance.

Most college basketball fans don't support the expansion idea, but it's clear that a big concern is that the committee won't actually give those spots to the mid-majors that fit the criteria discussed above. People are worried that they will instead go to 16-14 power conference teams that would normally be on the outside looking in.

A lot of fans don't like it, but it is looking like we are going to see the March Madness field expand sooner rather than later.