Don’t Get Worked Up About the NCAA Tournament Expanding to 76 Teams

1. There are very few things in sports as universally loved as the NCAA tournament. It is the perfect event.

So, upon learning that the men’s and women’s fields are set to expand from 68 teams to 76, it would make sense that we’d freak out and rip NCAA officials for tinkering with something that does not need tinkering. Sports and leagues across the board love to mess with stuff for no reason (except money) and make the overall experience worse for fans (hello, streaming!).

This is not the case here with the field ballooning up to 76 schools. Don’t freak out. Calm down.

Pete Thamel from ESPN broke the news on Tuesday that the expansion is all set to happen. This was the very last line in his story:

“The traditional 64-team men's team bracket would still begin Thursday and look much the same. The major difference would be more teams that qualify as traditional at-larges would have to play earlier than the 64-team bracket.”

I don’t think a ton of college basketball fans are clamoring for more play-in games, but if the NCAA wants to add more of those while keeping the real tournament to 64 teams, we can deal with it.

The actual tournament is not being messed with. It will still feature 64 teams, the brackets will remain the same as always with teams seeded from 1–16 and the games will still begin early on a Thursday afternoon with 16 matchups over each of the first two days.

As long as those things don’t change, the NCAA can add all the ho-hum play-in games it wants.

2. What a thrilling and riveting scene in Cincinnati last night. The Reds have a promotion in which their fans get free pizza if the team strikes out 11 batters.

Cincy was sitting on 10 strikeouts in the ninth inning when reliever Brock Burke had a ball called on a 1–2 count. However, the call was challenged. Watch how the scene played out.

Tyler Stephenson won Reds fans FREE PIZZA with his successful ABS challenge in the 9th inning. #Reds pic.twitter.com/KJxp9Atk0R
— Chatterbox Sports (@CBoxSports) April 29, 2026

3. The latest victim of Anthony Davis’s prank show, Foul Play, is Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg.

Davis and his cohorts set up a fake rookie symposium for Flagg, which featured a bunch of ridiculous moments.

The highlight comes about three minutes in when Flagg is lectured on social media and is asked to identify the eggplant, peach and water splashing emojis.

4. This is big news if you are a sports fan who has YouTubeTV. The restrictions on multi-view are gone and you can now set up your multi-view in any way you want.

Today, we’re officially launching fully customizable multiview on @YouTubeTV.

Our @youtube teams made one of our most popular features even better. The new multiview builder gives you full control to mix and match live streams (including add-ons like @nfl Sunday Ticket), and… pic.twitter.com/OwEHizQ34b
— Neal Mohan (@nealmohan) April 28, 2026

5. This is an amazing story that’s worth your time.

Giants kicker Younghoe Koo missing the ball on his field goal attempt made @marktoothaker laugh so hard it triggered a seizure that may have saved his life. The incredible story ahead of @spendthriftfarm's Further Ado running in the Kentucky Derby: https://t.co/7SQouNefVw
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) April 27, 2026

6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast features an interview withThe Ringer’s Bryan Curtis about the latest sports media news.

Curtis talks about the latest developments in the Dianna Russini–Mike Vrabel story, Prime Video’s “technical difficulties” vs. NBC’s scorebug mistake during early first-round NBA playoff games, and ESPN’s massive promotion of WWE.

In addition, Curtis weighs in on whether reporters should tip NFL draft picks and the decline of the NFL draft as a major television event.

Following Curtis, Sal Licata from SNY TV and The Sal Licata Show joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include World Cup train tickets going from $12.50 to $150, the difficulties of logging into streaming services, WrestleMania 42, the New York Mets’ pathetic play and the NBA playoffs. In addition, I respond to some listener emails.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 72nd birthday to Jerry Seinfeld.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.