NCAA exploring options to expand basketball tournaments: All you need to know

Is bigger always better? This is the conversation the NCAA Tournament committee is looking to answer as they consider expanding the field for March Madness.

It is commonly proposed that the tournament should expand to 96 teams. This would mean 25% of the 363 NCAA men's basketball teams will qualify for the tournament. In the current format, only 19% of teams qualify.

In the first 12 years of the NCAA Tournament, eight teams participated. In 1951, the pool grew to 16 teams. It then doubled once again to 32 teams in 1975 before growing to 64 teams in 1985. The 'First Four' games were added in 2011, which brought the total number of teams participating in the tournament to 68.

While there has been great success in each of these expansions, taking another leap has some people concerned that the tournament could grow to be too big.

Why NCAA Tournament Expansion may happen:

There is always a business perspective behind each of these decisions. That is certainly the case here. The idea of a 96-team tournament was first brought up by former NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen in 2010. He proposed the idea of the top 32 seeds getting byes and for the rest of the bracket to be filled out accordingly.

It should be noted that this occurred when the NCAA had the opportunity to opt out of its contract with CBS. Potential TV partners told the NCAA their asking price was too high unless the tournament was expanded to provide more games, which led them to this exploration.

CBS and Turner Broadcasting ultimately agreed to pay $10.8 billion to carry the men's tournament for the next 14 years. The contract is set to expire in 2024. Fans welcomed the decision to expand the tournament to 68 teams instead of 96.

While there is more opportunity for profit, expanding the tournament would water down the on-court product. Early in the tournament, there is always a high volume of games that occur on the same day. This leads to terrific games with exciting endings.

If the field becomes too large, it increases the chance of blowouts and decreases the odds of the "Cinderella" runs that keep people so invested. Many consider the NCAA Tournament to be the best event in sports. Messing with the winning recipe is a great risk.

For now, there are just baseline conversations on whether this type of expansion would make sense. Expect things to heat up as the current TV deal inches closer to expiration.