Mike Krzyzewski offers candid take on potential NCAA Tournament expansion

The NCAA has been considering adding more teams to March Madness, but former Duke Blue Devils men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski thinks the bracket is already big enough.

In an interview with "The Field of 68: After Dark" that was published on Monday, the five-time national champion said it would be a "big mistake" for the NCAA to expand the 68-team field for the men's and women's tournaments. 

Mike Krzyzewski reacts to potential NCAA Tournament expansion

"There are less teams capable right now than ever before," he said while explaining there are too few teams capable of winning a national title. "There are many have-nots, and it's not their fault." 

Krzyzewski certainly has a point there. NIL (name, image and likeness) and the transfer portal have only widened the gap between college basketball blue bloods and mid-majors. Last season, only four conferences (Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12) were represented in the Sweet 16 for the first time since its inception in 1975. Every other Sweet 16 had at least seven conferences represented. 

But what about the deserving teams that miss out on the tournament? The Indiana State Sycamores won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title during the 2023-24 season but missed the NCAA Tournament after losing to the Drake Bulldogs 84-80 in the MVC Tournament Championship Game. They subsequently won that season's NIT. 

NCAA president Charlie Baker cited that example when discussing expansion in February. 

"The more you do to create opportunities for so-called bubble teams each year to get into the tournament, first of all, it puts some other really good teams that probably might belong there," he said, per CBS Sports' Matt Norlander.

The NCAA was toying with expanding to 76 teams for the men's and women's fields before NCAA senior vice president Dan Gavitt said those talks are on hold until further notice in February (via Norlander).  

More teams equals more opportunities, but would any of these squads be legitimate title contenders? Probably not. And should the NCAA even remodel the format when it doesn't clearly need fixing? Krzyzewski doesn't think so. 

"I don't think you mess with something that is gold," he said. "I think the thing you should mess with is getting a leadership group... they should run it like the NBA and have a staff and run it like a business. But I wouldn't mess with gold, right now, and the NCAA Tournament is certainly that."