Iowa State Basketball’s Path to NCAA Tournament Easier With Expansion

An expanded NCAA tournament means more opportunities for the Iowa State Cyclones to qualify.

Mar 21, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; The mascot for the Iowa State Cyclones during the first half of a first round NCAA men’s tournament game against the Lipscomb Bisons at Fiserv Forum. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Since T.J. Otzelberger took over as head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones, the team has steadily improved its profile as a contender both in the Big 12 and nationally.

They have made the NCAA tournament all five years that he has been at the helm, including three trips to the Sweet 16. He has turned Iowa State into one of the premier men’s basketball programs in the country, and more NCAA tournament appearances will be on the horizon.

That has become the bare minimum to expect from the Cyclones under Otzelberger. And with the NCAA tournament field now expanding to 76 teams, taking part in March Madness has become a little easier for teams to achieve.

The NCAA announced on Thursday that the men’s and women’s tournaments will both be expanding from 68 teams to 76.

NCAA tournament to expand to 76 teams

Mar 22, 2026; San Diego, CA, USA; A general overall view of the March Madness logo at midcourt during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"Expanding the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships is the right decision for the student-athletes and programs that will now have access to the greatest events in college sports," said Tim Sands, chair of the Division I board of directors and the president at Virginia Tech, via ESPN. "As NCAA leaders, we are especially excited to provide additional, highly competitive games for fans who look forward to March Madness every year."

This is the first expansion of any kind for the men’s tournament since 2011. That was when the First Round was introduced, expanding the field from 64 to 68 with play-in games being held in Dayton.

The eight-team increase from 68 to 76 is the largest since the field originally expanded to 64 in 1985. In 2001, the field went from 64 to 65 before the First Four was formed a decade later.

With the expansion, the First Four, doubleheaders played on Tuesday and Wednesday before the 64-field tournament got underway on Thursday, is no more. An Opening Round will be replacing it, featuring 12 teams with triple-headers being played on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The First Four will be replaced by a 12-game Opening Round. There will be tripleheaders on Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton and a second city yet to be determined.

Half of the 24 opening-round teams will be the lowest-seeded auto-bids, half will be lowest-seeded at-large teams. https://t.co/rSScLx6qLS

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) May 7, 2026

Games will be held in two different cities, with Dayton still being one host. The city for the second day hasn’t been announced yet, but to help logistically, it is expected to be outside of the Eastern time zone.

Out of the 24 teams set to participate in the Opening Round, 12 will be the lowest-seeded automatic qualifying teams. The other 12 will be the lowest-seeded at-large teams who were selected to the field.

Iowa State hasn’t been very close to the bubble during Otzelberger’s tenure with the team, but should they find themselves on it, their odds of making the NCAA tournament have increased with this move.

It will certainly be interesting to see how things play out with even more teams being included in March Madness now.