This week, the NCAA announced it’s policy change regarding
play-in games to pave the way for an increased, 18 to 20-team, bracket size for
the men’s D1 tournament. This could go into effect as soon as 2014.
This policy change came from the addition of A-Sun and ACC
automatic qualifiers in 2014, and Big Ten in 2015. NCAA bylaws state that 50%
of the teams in the tournament must be at-large qualifiers, and with the number
of AQs increasing to 10, the NCAA cabinet must either increase the size of the brackets
to include the 10 at-large berths and the 10 AQs, or eliminate 2AQs.
Read more about the change: