2027 NCAA Tournament Bracketology: Duke No. 1 in preseason projections, expansion puts squeeze on mid-majors

The NCAA Tournament is undergoing its biggest change in more than 40 years as the field grows from 68 to 76 for the 2026-2027 season, which tips off Sunday night with a game between Notre Dame and Villanova in Rome. It's the most significant expansion to college basketball's postseason since the tournament grew from 48 teams to 64 teams in 1985.

While expansion from 64 to 65 in 2001 and 68 in 2011 created pre-first-round action, this step takes it to a new level. The newly dubbed "Opening Round" will replace what was previously known as the First Four and feature 12 total games.

Dayton, Ohio will still serve as one host site for the preliminary action, like it did for the First Four. It will be joined in that venture by Wichita, Kansas. Both cities will host a total of six games apiece across the Tuesday and Wednesday following Selection Sunday.

By Thursday, the bracket for the first round will look the same as it always does on Thursday of the tournament's first weekend. But the path to get there will look and feel different.

Under the old format, 60 of the 64 teams that played in the first…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/