According to Phillips, the NCAA tournaments with the most participating colleges are the finest. He has some reason to believe that the NCAA championships will eventually expand, not just for the men’s competition but for all of them. For those “schools that are spending a significant amount of resources in athletics and not having a chance to reach those championships,” he added, “expanding the field also benefits them.”
Currently, only 68 of 358 men’s basketball programs—32 conference champions and 36 at-large teams chosen by the selection committee—qualify for the men’s NCAAs. The practicalities of holding a larger tournament, according to Phillips, must be worked out.
