College basketball coaches split on NCAA tournament expansion - ESPN

ORLANDO, Fla. — Michigan State coach Tom Izzo questions the value of expanding the NCAA tournament — a move that could be made in the coming months — beyond its current 68-team field.

In fact, Izzo said expansion — there have been conversations around a 96-team field in recent years — could diminish the multibillion-dollar product that defines the sport.

«I just think it's going to get watered down,» Izzo told ESPN on Thursday at the NBPA Top 100 Camp at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando. «I worry about that a little bit. It wouldn't bother me if they did that, but I do worry that if it gets watered down, it's not good.… I think 68 has been a pretty good number. I think you get enough good first-round games. That's me.»

But there was no consensus on the topic at the Top 100 Camp, a showcase for the best high school players in America, including Flory Bidunga (No. 4 prospect in the 2024 class, per ESPN), Cam Boozer (No. 1 prospect in the 2025 class, per ESPN) and Cooper Flagg (No. 2 prospect in the 2025 class, per ESPN).

At the Final Four in April, new NCAA president Charlie Baker said the committee deliberating the issue could make a recommendation on possible expansion by the end of summer or the beginning of fall.

Kansas coach Bill Self said the time to expand is approaching because the transfer portal is changing the sport's depth.

«I think what will determine [expansion] is the portal because there are going to be more good teams because I think you'll be able to have less teams take dips,» he said. «Everybody will stay at a higher level.… It might be time to really get serious about [expansion]. If the portal does what we think it's going to do, it's going to make it so it will be time [to expand].»

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