Men's NCAA Tournament Bracket History: 1939 thru Present

NCAA tournament bracket history began in 1939 with an 8 team bracket featuring Oregon, Ohio State, Villanova, Oklahoma, Utah State, Brown, Texas, and Wake Forest. The 8 team setup lasted until 1951 when the field was expanded to 16 teams. 2 years later the tournament expanded further to include 24 teams. The 24 team standard stuck until the 1975 NCAA tournament which had 32 teams. 1979 saw 40 teams get a tourney bid while 1980 saw 48 teams. The field was increased to 52 and 53 teams in 1983 and 1984 respectively. Finally in 1985 NCAA tournament bracket history was made again as the 64 team field was born and became the standard until a 65th team was added in 2001.

There are some coaches around the nation pushing for further expansion of the NCAA tournament bracket. A 96 team field is probably the next logical step as parity has become more noticeable across the NCAA basketball landscape. 31 automatic
bids are dished out every year leaving only 34 at-large spots available in the bracket. Each year there is controversy over the last few teams who get in and the last few teams who get left out. With the automatic bid system allowing small conference Division 1A schools into the tournament, we have a situation where the tourney field is not necessarily comprised of the best 65 teams in the nation. In fact it is a given that the NCAA tourney field does not contain all of the top 65 teams in the nation. When will NCAA tournament bracket history be made again with an increase in the number tourney teams? Nobody can say for sure but I'm guessing talk of expanding the field will continue to increase year after year as mid-major conferences continue to close the gap on the 6 major conferences.

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NCAA Tournament Bracket History