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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 harbors some concerns about the expansion.
No teams have been added since three more were in 2011, and the format of the tournament would change, but that’s not what Hurley is concerned about. The 53-year-old coach does not want to see the regular season be rendered meaningless.
“What I think makes the tournament special is the qualification for it,” Hurley told CBS Sports. “You don’t want the regular season to be rendered meaningless and to take away from November, December, January, February. The qualification process makes the regular season intense and pressure-packed.”
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UConn head coach Dan Hurley stands on the sidelines during the first half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game 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 real good season to make it, that would take away from the tournament. Does it get too big?”
Hurley said he loved the tournament because it was hard to qualify for.
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UConn head coach Dan Hurley talks with 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 get in. My biggest thing, too, 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, there would be 12 games played between 24 teams due to the eight added at-large bids. The games would be played at two different sites.
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UConn head coach Dan Hurley speaks during a news conference ahead of the national semifinal NCAA college basketball tournament 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 who have to play on Tuesday and Wednesday, they must win seven games instead of six to win it all.
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