2026年4月28日 / 美国东部时间晚9:09 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
美国全国大学体育协会（NCAA）仍在考虑在下一赛季将男子和女子组的疯狂三月锦标赛扩军至76支球队——这是一项酝酿多年、备受期待的举措。
此前ESPN援引匿名消息人士报道称，增加8支参赛队伍的决定只是走流程，预计将于5月公布。周二，NCAA发布了一份简短声明对此作出回应。
后续有消息人士向哥伦比亚广播公司体育频道证实了这一扩军可能性。其中一名消息人士告诉CBS体育，扩军计划仍有“极其微小的可能性”被推翻。
“扩军篮球锦标赛需要多个NCAA委员会批准，包括男子和女子篮球委员会，目前尚未做出最终建议或决定，”NCAA在周二向CBS新闻提供的声明中表示。
据CBS体育报道，这些委员会包括男子和女子监督委员会、男子和女子篮球选拔委员会、一级联盟内阁以及NCAA董事会。
本月早些时候在四强赛期间，NCAA主席查理·贝克表示，在今年的锦标赛结束后，各委员会将重新讨论扩军事宜。
自2011年以来，该锦标赛一直保持68支球队的规模，当时在首周赛事开始前增加了四场“最后四强前资格赛”（First Four）。新的扩军方案将再增加8支外卡球队，并将另外8支球队移出主 bracket，安排至资格赛阶段。
CBS体育获悉，此次扩军将对首轮赛事进行全面改革，以取代现有的“最后四强前资格赛”。届时将有52支球队直接获得正赛席位，其余24支球队将在周二和周三进行12场资格赛，获胜者可晋级正赛。
预计此次扩军不会带来大幅增收，因为仅在首周早期增加了赛事场次。目前的电视转播合同将持续至2032年，仅会进行小幅调整。
无论经济效益如何，扩军都将为顶级联盟提供更多将球队带入锦标赛的机会——在运动员姓名、形象和肖像权补偿以及转会门户时代，这些联盟寻求更多大学体育话语权和控制权的呼声日益高涨，这一点也引发了越来越多的担忧。
NCAA March Madness tournaments could expand to 76 teams in 2027
April 28, 2026 / 9:09 PM EDT / CBS/AP
The NCAA is still deliberating expanding March Madness on both the men’s and women’s sides to 76 teams for next season — a much-expected development that’s been in the works for years.
The NCAA released a brief statement Tuesday in the wake of an ESPN report that cited unnamed sources saying a decision to add eight teams to the bracket is a mere formality that’s expected in May.
Sources also later confirmed the possible expansion to CBS Sports. One source told CBS Sports that there is a “very, very small chance” that the expansion plan could be reversed.
“Expanding the basketball tournaments would require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, and no final recommendations or decisions have been made at this time,” the NCAA said in a statement provided to CBS News Tuesday.
Those committees include the men’s and women’s oversight committees, the men’s and women’s basketball selection committees, the Division I cabinet and the NCAA’s Board of Governors, according to CBS Sports.
Earlier this month at the Final Four, NCAA President Charlie Baker said the committees would, in fact, return to discussing the expansion once this year’s tournament was over.
The tournaments have been at 68 teams since 2011, when four play-in games, known as the First Four, were added to the beginning of the first week of play. The new format would add eight more at-large teams and take eight more teams out of the main bracket for play-in games.
The expansion would involve a revamped opening round to replace the First Four, CBS Sports learned. Fifty-two teams would get automatic slots into the main bracket, and the other 24 would play 12 games on a Tuesday and Wednesday in the opening round with the opportunity to advance to the main bracket.
The expansion isn’t expected to generate a lot more income because it will only add games early in the first week. The current TV deal runs through 2032 and could be tweaked slightly.
Regardless of finances, the expansion would give power conferences more chances to place teams in the bracket — a growing concern as those conferences seek more power and control over college sports in the era of name, image and likeness compensation and the transfer portal.