68 good for now, but down the road ... ?

NEW YORK - The NCAA is more concerned about making sure its first 68-team basketball tournament goes off without a hitch than any further expansion.

That's not to say there won't be more teams joining the fray eventually.

The NCAA announced last April that it would add three teams to the field this season, the first expansion since the tournament went from 64 teams to 65 in 2001. The 68-team model was chosen over 96 teams, a plan that received support from many coaches and administrators.

NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen told The Associated Press on Tuesday that there has been no more discussion about expansion, but conceded that “it’s always on the list of topics.”

“We’re always going to be looking at what’s the best way to contest the championship,” Shaheen said. “Sixty-eight is certainly a start, and where it goes from here is anyone’s guess.”

The tournament begins March 15-16 with a pair of doubleheaders in Dayton, Ohio. Two games will match the lowest seeds, Nos. 65 through 68, with the winners advancing as No. 16 seeds to play a top seed. The other two games will match the last four of the 37 at-large qualifiers.

Besides carving out three additional spots for at-large teams, Shaheen said one of the objectives of the “First Four” model was to build tension early in the tournament. Bubble teams from major conferences, such as Michigan State and Boston College, could find themselves playing mid-majors like Missouri State for the chance to make the traditional 64-team bracket.

“When you’re hearing a discussion about bubble teams, you’re hearing a discussion about the ‘First Four,’” Shaheen said. “When you’re talking about who gets in, who gets out, that’s who you’re talking about, and that’s part of the reason we did it.”

Any future changes to the format would need to be worked out with television partners CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting, which joined on a 14-year, $10.8 billion deal that ensures every game will be televised on CBS, TBS, TNT or truTV starting this year.

Several personalities helping to call the action, including former NBA stars Charles Barkley and Greg Anthony, were overwhelmingly supportive of tournament expansion.

“Ultimately you’re going to see this thing go to 96, and the reason is because there’s more parity,” said Anthony, the former UNLV star who will provide in-studio analysis for CBS.

“I think you’re expanding because you have far more competitive teams than you used to have,” Anthony said. “When I was in school, we’d never lose to Montana or BYU or San Diego State, but these teams now, not only are they winning, they’re highly regarded.”