The NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments are set to expand to 76 teams, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported on Tuesday evening.

Thamel reported that the NCAA has "initiated the final steps" toward expansion, which would likely be formalized around mid-May. The expansion would take effect for the 2026-27 season.

This will be the first expansion to the men's tournament since the addition of the First Four in 2011, and it will be the first major expansion since the tournament expanded from 53 to 64 teams in 1985. The tournament is expected to feature a 24-team "opening round" that whittles the field down to 64 teams ahead of the traditional tournament.

Sources: The NCAA has initiated the final steps to expand the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams. The expansion is on track to be formalized in the upcoming weeks, with mid-May as the target. The 76-team tournaments begin next year. https://t.co/2ZGUjZR0uJ

The move to 76 teams creates eight additional at-large spots, which dovetails with the fact that Thamel reported the power conferences were pushing for expansion with more access to the tournament in mind. Meanwhile, teams that would have previously qualified for the 64-team tournament as an at-large will now have to play in the "Opening Round," which will be held somewhere west of the Eastern Time Zone, per Thamel.

It's a massive change to one of the most beloved postseason formats in sports, but it's one the NCAA has been gearing up to make for more than a year.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: March Madness set to expand to 76 teams next season