The NCAA made a baffling decision on Thursday evening, voting to expand the NCAA Tournament from 68 teams to 76, making the opening round a “First 12” likely with 24 teams playing for a spot in the 64-team field.
Tom Izzo wasn’t thrilled with the decision.
The Michigan State head coach spoke out about it after the NCAA’s vote and painted kind of a depressing, but likely, grim scenario. He said that he’d rather it stays the same and that “it’s never going to be enough”. If the NCAA has already expanded twice, what’s stopping it from moving to 96 teams or 100 or more.
Izzo pretty much spoke for all of us.
Tom Izzo on the NCAA Tournament expanding to 76 teams:
— Michigan State Content (@msucontent) May 8, 2026
"I would rather it stay the same, but as you know, coaches weren't asked at all. I was a Division II guy. I feel for the lower, smaller programs. I hate to break something that isn't broken. And I know we went from 64 to… pic.twitter.com/aFEOQEANJT
“Fixing” things that aren’t broken seems to be a theme with the NCAA. They also love to not fix things that are broken — NIL and the transfer portal are prime examples.
Izzo has been critical of the NCAA over the years and he’s been right every step of the way. He was always knocked for his takes on the transfer portal, but it’s true that players often enter on bad advice and it ruins their career. He’s also right about tampering being an issue and NIL being out of control. It’s actually a miracle that he hasn’t retired yet with all of the changes he’s experienced in just the last 5-6 years alone.
It’s only a matter of time before another Izzo prediction comes true and the NCAA Tournament wants “more commercials” and the money-grab gets even more shameless with a 96-team field. We’re going to see teams with .500 records make the tournament based on “quality wins” if Izzo’s right.
As a college basketball fan, that cannot happen.
Tournament expansion shouldn’t affect Michigan State much
While Izzo isn’t exactly on board with expansion, he’s also not going to be affected much by it. The Spartans shouldn’t be living on the bubble like they did from 2021-2024 but rather they’ll be pushing for top four seeds every year. Expansion likely doesn’t affect Michigan State much.
Still, most Michigan State basketball fans also love college hoops in general. The NCAA Tournament is like Christmas to a lot of us. Ruining it for cheap views and money is the most NCAA thing that the NCAA could possibly do.
It’s one of those things that doesn’t affect Michigan State a ton, but will change the way everyone looks at March Madness — and that stinks.
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