March Madness is close to becoming more maddening.

The NCAA is reportedly nearing a decision to expand its men’s basketball tournament from 68 to 76 teams for the 2026-27 season. This change would introduce 12 initial round games, moving beyond the current First Four format, as stated by On3.

An agreement has yet to be finalized.

These initial matchups would still occur on Tuesday and Wednesday before the Round of 64 begins on Thursday. Unlike the current setup, these games would be hosted at two different sites instead of solely in Dayton, Ohio, according to the report.

“We’ll call it the opening round,” an anonymous executive told On3 regarding the branding changing from the First Four.

The criteria for selecting the 12 teams to compete in these opening rounds will remain consistent with the process for the First Four. Twelve of the lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers will compete against each other, and 12 of the last at-large teams will also face off.

During a July address to the National Press Club, NCAA president Charlie Baker dismissed the notion that expanding the tournament was about more revenue from television partners, saying the extra games would not be a “big moneymaker,” per Yahoo.

“There are every year some really good teams that don’t get to the tournament for a bunch of reasons,” Baker said at the time. “One of the reasons is we have 32 automatic qualifiers (for conference champions). I love that and think it’s great and never want that to change, but that means there’s only 36 slots left for everybody else.

“I don’t buy the idea that some of the teams that currently get left out aren’t good. I think they are. And I think that sucks.”

Two months ago, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, Dan Gavitt, announced the fields for the 2026 basketball tournaments would remain at 68 teams.

“Expanding the tournament fields is no longer being contemplated for the 2026 men’s and women’s basketball championships,” Gavitt said in a statement on Aug. 4.

“However, the committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2027 championships.”