Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, one of college basketball’s most respected voices, said he opposes expanding the NCAA Tournament field because adding more teams could dilute the magic of the sport’s beloved month.
Sharing his thoughts on “The Field of 68” podcast on Monday, the five-time national championship-winning coach said college sports’ modern era with the transfer portal is a threat to the Cinderella stories that make March Madness special.
“There are less teams capable right now than ever before, and there’s many have-nots, and it’s not their fault,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t think you mess with something that’s gold. It’s gold.”
In mid-February, expansion talks were paused until after the 2026 tournament, with NCAA president Charlie Baker saying he’d “like to see it expand.”
While the addition of more teams could make for more Cinderella stories of lower-prestige schools. Krzyzewski said he envisions the phenomenon becoming more of a novelty with each passing year due to the modern era’s transfer portal.
“There’ll be less Cinderella stories, though,” Krzyzewski said. “The low division and many mid-Division I programs, if they have a good player who’s a freshman, they’re gone. There’s a great chance they’re not going to be there the next year.”
Baker is in favor of keeping the existing model with 31 automatic qualifiers (AQs) for conference champions, but wants amendments and additions to the existing model, which puts in only 37 at-large bids. Every year, there are teams ranked in the top 50 in RPI and other key ranking metrics that are on the bubble of March Madness selection and ultimately left on the outside looking in.
“The more you do to create opportunities for the so-called bubble teams each year to get into the tournament, first of all, it puts some other really good teams that probably might belong there,” Baker told reporters in February.
“But it also protects the AQs, right? Because I don’t want to end up in a situation where people say we need to do something about the AQs because we’re keeping too many good teams out of the tournament.”
In addition to his thoughts on tournament expansion, Krzyzewski also said he sees a need for centralized leadership atop college basketball akin to how pro leagues are run. Baker is largely seen as the head of college basketball leadership, but Krzyzewski sees the need for further specification.
“He’s a good guy, and he’s inherited a really quagmire of what to do,” Krzyzewski said. “I think the thing you should mess with is getting a leadership group and having them study and see what happens with that group.
“Not just one person. Actually, they should run it like the NBA, a staff and all that … run it like a business. I wouldn’t mess with gold right now, and the NCAA Tournament is certainly that.”
Krzyzewski, 79, coached the Blue Devils for 42 years from 1980 to 2022. He set records in NCAA Tournament appearances (36), tournament wins (101) and Final Four appearances (13). He ranks as the men’s all-time leader in wins as a coach with 1,202.
The brackets will begin to iron out as conference tournaments begin this weekend. In The Athletic’s Tournament Watch, as a part of the Bracket Central series, Auburn, San Diego State, VCU and USC are all on the bubble but in the first four out.
Cal, Virginia Tech, Seton Hall, and West Virginia are in the next four out. Santa Clara, New Mexico, TCU and Indiana get in as the last four in the projection.