KANSAS CITY, Mo. >> Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is in favor of expanding the men’s NCAA Tournament to 76 teams, and he believes a decision could come in the next few months, opening the possibility of proposed changes being implemented as soon as next year. Yormark spoke before the start of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday.

“I’m in favor of expansion to 76. I think that’s the right number,” he said. “I think the economics candidly have to work. CBS and TNT have a marquee asset with the tournament. I know they know that. But in order for us to expand, they need to come to the table and provide the right economics.”

This year’s edition of March Madness will be the 40th men’s bracket since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985; it later grew to the current 68-team configuration.

The women’s bracket increased to 64 in 1994 and added four more teams in 2022.

Last year, the NCAA presented a plan to Division I commissioners that would expand the men’s and women’s tournaments by four or eight teams alongside an option to leave each field at 68.

The time-honored 64-team bracket would remain and the added teams would be part of the play-in games involving the 10-through-12 seeds.