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NCAA not looking to expand 2021 national tournament field

Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The NCAA has no plans to allow nearly every Division I basketball program to compete in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

"Every college basketball team's goal is to play in the NCAA Tournament because everyone loves March Madness," Dan Gavitt, the organization's senior vice president of basketball, told Andy Katz of NCAA.com. "Certainly we missed it this year and can't wait for 2021.

"While all who care about the game are entitled to their opinion, and we'll always listen respectfully, at this time we are not working on any contingency plan that involves expanding the tournament field."

Duke's Mike Krzyzewski led a consortium of ACC head coaches Wednesday in support of the all-inclusive tournament idea. The longtime Blue Devils figure said the coaches considered three factors when making the proposal: the players' health and safety, the incentive to assure games will be played next season, and "the need to be unified as a sport."

The NCAA Tournament currently consists of 68 teams competing to be crowned national champions in the spring. The ACC coaches proposed the event open up to include at least 350 schools.

Both the men's and women's tournaments were canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. A consensus start date for the 2020-21 college basketball season has yet to be decided, though the Pac-12 has already canceled all games until 2021 at the earliest.

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