Over the course of the last couple of years, there has been a ton of discourse as to whether or not the NCAA Tournament field would be expanded from 68 teams — and the momentum certainly seemed to be trending in that direction.

But it was revealed this week that the tournament is not going to expand this upcoming 2025-26 season.

“Expanding the tournament fields is no longer being contemplated for the 2026 men’s and women’s basketball championships,” Dan Gavitt of the NCAA revealed in a statement via On3. “However, the committees will continue conversations on whether to recommend expanding to 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2027 championships.”

They added that talks will resume in 2027.

Among fans, expanding the field is seen as a largely unpopular idea. March Madness for so long has been seen as the perfect sporting event, and any attempts to change it would not only solely be for financial gain, but also reward undeserving teams with a spot in the field.

As for the SEC, the conference just had one of the strongest regular seasons for a league in the history of the sport in which it set a record with 14 teams in the field already. The only two teams in the conference to not make it were LSU and South Carolina, both of whom had dreadful seasons and would not have made an expanded field.

Essentially, the SEC could take it or leave it when it comes to their preference here.

Fans who do not want to see the event messed with though got their wish, at least for the moment.