The NCAA Tournament is set to expand to 76 teams next season, according to a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel.

In the report, Thamel says the quiet part out loud, "The primary driver of this move hasn't been money, but rather access for at-large bids for power conferences. The expansion has been pushed by power conferences, which have grown throughout the course of the current deal."

The new format would introduce an "opening round" on Tuesday and Wednesday, featuring 12 games between 24 teams at two different sites. The traditional first round games on Thursday and Friday would remain unchanged. The NCAA committees are expected to vote and finalize the new format in the coming weeks.

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On the recruiting trail, Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 ranked prospect in the class of 2026, announced his commitment to Kansas yesterday. It's the second year in a row Bill Self has landed the top-ranked recruit (Darryn Peterson). Stokes joins a class that already includes fellow five-star guard Taylen Kinney and four-stars Davion Adkins, Trent Perry and Luke Barnett. The Jayhawks are looking to return to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since their national title run in 2022.

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Notable transfer portal commitments: Massamba Diop (Arizona State) to Gonzaga | Nils Machowski (Wofford) to UConn | Justin McBride (James Madison) to Kentucky | Keyon Kensie Jr. (Portland State) to Nevada | Aleksa Ristic (Indiana) to Belmont | TJ Caldwell (Arkansas State) to UAB | Jason Fontenet II (UC Santa Barbara) to Rhode Island | Ryan Agarwal (Stanford) to Loyola Chicago | Elijah Jones (UTEP) to George Mason | Jayden Hastings (Boston College) to Cincinnati

To keep up with all the latest transfer portal news and rumors, join us in the discord!

New content at Basket Under Review

On a new episode of STATS by Will & Jim, the guys discuss the numbers that defined this year's coaching carousel.

Matthew Winick returns with another transfer portal notebook discussing shooters, connectors and reclamation projects.

The Basket Under Review crew is churning out instant analysis for every major commitment in the portal ($).

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