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Bill Self's Preference For NCAA Tournament Format Revealed

Originally posted on The Spun | By Daniel Bates | Last updated May 28, 2025 3:22 PM ET

While the NCAA Tournament field is much bigger than that of the College Football Playoff's, conversations about expanding the 64-team field have taken place for years now.

And according to reports, it sounds like Bill Self and the majority of the Big 12's coaches are in favor of inviting more teams into the March Madness pool in future postseasons.

Per Henry Greenstein of the Lawrence Journal-World, Self said the sense he's gotten from the league's coaches is that they would be in favor of NCAA expansion.

"There was a little bit that was brought forth, and the consensus among the coaches, even though it was very little, was we'd be in favor of that," the two-time national champion explained.

This past year the Big 12 saw five schools represented in the NCAA Tournament — three of which were recently added from outside conferences (Arizona, BYU and Houston).

Back in February, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that the number college basketball's decision-makers seem to be targeting is 76, which would add eight new teams to the March Madness mix.

"NCAA President Charlie Baker is on the record saying there's been discussions about growing the tournament to either 72 or 76 teams," Thamel shared at the time.

Adding, "I had multiple high-ranking sources tell me this week that the more likely option if the tournament were to expand would be to 76. This has been a discussion with its media partners for a while [now]."

We'll see where this ends up going as far as 2026 is concerned. But a decision would likely need to come down soon if it's going to happen next year.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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