Missouri’s Dennis Gates Wants to See NCAA Tournament Field Doubled

The current slate of 68 teams isn’t nearly enough for the first-year SEC coach.

While much of the attention in college athletics is on expanding the College Football Playoff, there is an increasing drumbeat around the men’s NCAA tournament as well. Some would like to see a fairly substantial increase in the number of teams, which has stood at 68 for the men’s tournament since 2011. But new Missouri men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates wants to see a very significant expansion. 

“I would like to see it double, to be honest with you,” he said at Wednesday’s SEC basketball tip-off event, per Kyle Tucker of The Athletic. “There are some great coaches left out of the tournament and some great players we don’t get to see.”

Every year sees a few teams get left by the wayside that may have otherwise made some noise come NCAA tournament time, but doubling to field to over 130 teams would be a pretty wild step forward. While it would certainly add opportunities for many players and coaches—and, of course, game inventory for the networks that carry the games—there is plenty of concern that adding a bunch of teams like this will just serve to water down the quality of the event, especially in the early rounds.

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Gates wasn’t alone in discussing tournament expansion at the event. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey also seems to be interested in finding a way to include more teams.

“The division has grown over time, the number of members, the quality of basketball, the commitment, the expectations that are upon any number of programs nationally. So why don’t we facilitate those opportunities?” Sankey said per David Cobb of CBS Sports, citing Texas A&M as a potentially deserving team that was left out a year ago after a run to the SEC championship.

“I think there’s ways for us to think about creating access points that bring more people into the game, which I always think can be healthy if done the right way,” he added. 

Gates comes to Missouri from Cleveland State, where he made the Big Dance once in three years as coach, reaching the Round of 64 in 2021. Last season, his Vikings went 20–11 with a 15–6 Horizon League record, tying for first for the regular season conference crown. They were upset in the semifinals of the conference tournament by Wright State, and settled for an NIT bid. 

His new program at Missouri also last reached the NCAA tournament in 2021 as a No. 9 seed, and was eliminated by Oklahoma in the first round.

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