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The NCAA is reportedly looking to expand the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams, and UConn head coach Dan Hurley has some concerns about the expansion.
No teams have been added since three more in 2011, and the format of the tournament would change, but that’s not what Hurley worries about. The 53-year-old coach doesn’t want to see the regular season rendered meaningless.
“What I think makes the tournament special is the qualifying for it,” Hurley told CBS Sports. “You don’t want the regular season to be rendered meaningless and take away from November, December, January, February. The qualifying process makes the regular season intense and pressured.”
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UConn head coach Dan Hurley stands on the sidelines during the first half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal against Illinois at the Final Four in Indianapolis on April 4, 2026. (Michael Conroy/AP)
“It should be a privilege to play in the tournament, not a right, and obviously if it expands too much and you don’t have to have a really good season to make it, it would take away from the tournament. Does it get too big?”
Hurley said he loved the tournament because it was difficult to qualify for.
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UConn head coach Dan Hurley talks to a referee during the first half of the Elite Eight NCAA Tournament game against Duke in Washington on March 29, 2026. (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP)
“I love watching 1/16 games, 8/9 games, Dayton games. But I also love the fact that when it was 64, it was really hard to get in,” the two-time national champion said. “You want it to be hard to come in. Also, my biggest thing is you still have to win six games, right?”
In the new expanded tournament, the first two days of the tournament would look drastically different. On that Tuesday and Wednesday, 12 games would be played between 24 teams due to the eight added at-large bids. The games would be played at two different locations.
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UConn head coach Dan Hurley speaks during a press conference prior to the NCAA college basketball tournament national semifinal game against Illinois at the Final Four in Indianapolis on April 2, 2026. (Abbie Parr/AP)
The traditional 64-team bracket would then kick in on Thursday after the opening games. For the teams that will play on Tuesday and Wednesday, they will have to win seven games instead of six to win it all.
