Michigan’s men’s basketball team secured its first national title in more than 30 years earlier this month. One day earlier, UCLA’s women’s team claimed its first NCAA Tournament crown.

Michigan and UCLA powered through a 64-team bracket to hoist their respective championship trophies, but an expanded bracket could make repeat runs more difficult next season. ESPN reported Tuesday, citing sources, that the NCAA is moving forward with plans to expand both tournaments to 76 teams.

Expansion has been on the table for more than a year, but this latest step could pave the way for formal approval, with an announcement possible as soon as next month. The larger field could be in place before the 2026-27 season.

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Though several hurdles remain with NCAA committees before any changes can become official, a source told ESPN the remaining steps are merely “formalities.”

Media rights deals remain unfinished, and signed contracts will likely be needed before the men’s and women’s basketball committees, oversight groups and other parties move forward. ESPN reported that NCAA officials have recently engaged in discussions with key media partners.

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While the financial framework for expansion is still unclear, costs are expected to rise with more teams traveling and competing. A source told ESPN the plan could still ultimately produce profit and a “modest financial upside.”

A game ball with the March Madness logo is shown during the first round of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La., on March 22, 2025. (Beau Brune/NCAA Photos)

Expansion discussions appear to be fueled more by the push for at-large bids for power conferences than by financial considerations. Many leagues have added a considerable number of schools under the current agreement.

“Expanding the basketball tournaments would require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, and no final recommendations or decisions have been made at this time,” an NCAA spokesperson told OutKick’s Trey Wallace.

Currently, the First Four features eight teams across four games. Under expansion, that would grow to 12 games involving 24 teams, with the men’s tournament adding eight at-large bids.

The NCAA basketball goes through the net during the SEC women’s college basketball tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., on March 8, 2025. (John Byrum/Icon Sportswire)

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Overall, the proposal would mean the First Four would see 24 of those 76 teams competing Tuesday and Wednesday. Eight teams that once would have been in the customary bracket would now face eight new at-large teams. The main 64-team bracket would still tip off Thursday with little change.

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FIRST ON FOX: State education agencies in Vermont have paid $566,000 in damages and legal fees to a Christian school that was banned from all sports and academic competitions for two years after its girls’ basketball team refused to compete against a trans athlete in 2023.

A judge’s decision was finalized on Tuesday that awarded the plaintiffs, including the Mid Vermont Christian School and its law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the $566,000. The plaintiffs took legal action to challenge the ban in November 2023, and have now officially been transferred their winnings.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Vermont Principals’ Association and the Vermont State Board of Education for a response.

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The settlement comes after a years-long saga in which all the school’s sports teams, and even its academic teams, like spelling bee and mathletes, had to travel out of state to compete against other schools.

The conflict dates back to an afternoon early in the 2023 school year at Mid Vermont Christian, when the school decided to forfeit a girls’ basketball postseason game against a team with a trans athlete.

Their Christian faith was more important to them than a game. But it was still a hard call, and it brought some tears.

“We were all in agreement that the right decision was to not compromise our beliefs and to withdraw, but the conversation with the players was the hardest,” Mid Vermont Christian girls’ basketball coach Chris Goodwin told Fox News Digital.

“Because you play a 20-game season, and you put in the work and the expectation is that you enter the postseason tournament with a shot to see how you’re going to do and to see how far you can get. So there were some teary eyes, and some sad faces, but in the end, they all really did understand that it was the right thing to do.”

But it was about to get much harder for not just the team, but for the entire school of about 111 students.

Within days of the forfeit, they learned the consequences escalated far beyond a single game. The Vermont Principals’ Association banned the school, not just from basketball, but from all athletics and a range of academic competitions.

“Almost immediately… they came out very strongly,” Goodwin said. “We were going to be banned from all athletic competition in the state… and then on top of that… science fairs and spelling bees.”

What followed was not a single lost season, but years of dislocation. The school was forced to arrange competitions with schools out of state just to make sure their extracurricular programs could continue.

Instead of short bus rides to nearby schools, teams traveled hours across state lines. Familiar rivalries disappeared. Home gyms sat quieter.

“The travel is probably triple,” Goodwin said. “You’re getting back at 10 o’clock at night… kids trying to do homework. I don’t want to say there’s a nightmare, but it was difficult.”

Along the way, Goodwin said there were teams he coached that had the potential to win the state championship, but never got the chance.

“You know, the hard part was that we knew we had lost… we lost a couple years of participation. And we had some really good teams during those two years where we would have been, if not winning the state championship, competing for the state championship.”

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Goodwin says it affected the school’s entire culture.

“That’s a big part of the culture… having games in your gym, where parents and community members come,” he said. “That just disappeared.”

When the school took the issue to the courts, the state and its agencies didn’t fold.

ADF Senior Counsel Dave Cortman told Fox News Digital that he was shocked at how firmly the education authorities in Vermont wouldn’t back down from their sweeping sanction on the small Christian school.

“It’s been surprising how much the state has dug in their heels,” he said. “The arguments they’ve made… even saying your beliefs are wrong…

“Their message was, ‘in order for you to follow your religious beliefs, boys are boys, girls are girls, that would actually violate their nondiscrimination policies.’ So the irony of it was, they were discriminating against religious schools.”

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The turning point came in 2025, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered the school reinstated while the case continued — a decision that opened the door for students to return to competition.

The appeals court ruled in September 2025 that Mid Vermont Christian must be allowed to participate in state athletics, after two years of banishment had passed. The court then returned the case to district court for further proceedings.

So Goodwin was able to lead his team back onto the court this season.

A bittersweet moment occurred when Mid Vermont Christian made it back to the state tournament and back to the Barre Auditorium. It is the state’s old arena every Vermont player dreams about stepping onto for a chance to win a championship.

“When we won our quarterfinal game to get there, our senior captain who graduated a year ago, was talking on the phone to her sister who plays for me now, they’re both crying on the phone, number one because of the joy of achieving a goal that they wanted to achieve, but also the sadness of her sister, who’s a freshman in college now, not having that opportunity,” Goodwin said.

Mid Vermont Christian School’s girls basketball team was reinstated to Vermont state sports following a court order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in June 2024. (Alliance Defending Freedom)

“That’s the hardest part to see the sadness that these girls have to experience. Because the state decided to make the decision it just, it was hurtful and it’s bittersweet that we’re back in, but we are glad we’re back in.”

For the school and ADF, the satisfaction of their win in court goes beyond just the arena of play, as the movement to “save girls sports” grows nationwide.

Cortman recalled a moment during the proceedings.

“In one of the hearings before the court, the state argued that the school was on the wrong side of history,” Cortman said.

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“The school is on the right side of history and will be for following his faith in its beliefs, for doing what’s right… sometimes there’s a price to pay. But it’s always the right thing to do. You’re always on the right side of history when you stand up for truth.”

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While focus should be on the New England Patriots heading into the 2026 season looking for redemption after a Super Bowl loss, the hot-button topic of head coach Mike Vrabel’s relationship with ex-The Athletic reporter Dianna Russini was prevalent on Tuesday.

Tight end Hunter Henry is obviously aware of the situation at hand with Vrabel, who spent Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft away from the team to seek counseling amid the Russini controversy.

But Henry, and the rest of the Patriots, are trying to focus on football as much as possible.

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“Obviously, you know, I know you guys want to hear about everything that’s going on, but to be honest with you, we’re just focused,” he told reporters on Tuesday, per Yahoo Sports. “I’m focused on what we got going on right now in this building with this team.

Henry, a team captain, added that he’s “just focused on the guys in this locker room and trying to build it from the ground up.” In other words, he’s not going to be commenting on his head coach’s off-the-field controversy.

Fellow captain Robert Spillane was also asked about Vrabel’s situation, but he echoed Henry’s sentiment.

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“Coach coaches football. He keeps the main thing the main thing,” Spillane said, per MassLive. “I know he’s dealing with personal issues. But when we’re in the building. We speak football.”

While Spillane wasn’t going to comment on others’ relationship with Vrabel, he did note that he would “be here to support him” as he believes his coach would do the same.

Vrabel spoke publicly about the Russini controversy, and he noted during his statement that he spoke with players.

“I thought he did a great job,” Henry said about Vrabel’s handling of the situation when it came out. “It’s been the same Vrabes bringing a lot of energy in the room, so, I mean, obviously, he addressed it. That’s kind of what I’ll say about it.”

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel stands on the field before the 2026 AFC Championship Game at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Jan. 25, 2026. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)

The Patriots released a statement before the first round of the draft this past Thursday, saying they “fully support” Vrabel.

“Mike has been open with us about his commitment to being the best version of himself for his family, this team and our fans, and we respect the steps he is taking to follow through on that commitment,” the statement read.

“We are confident in the leadership and communication Mike has established with our personnel staff throughout this pre-draft process.” 

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Vrabel was with the Patriots for the first two nights of the draft, but he stepped away for rounds 4-7 to seek counseling.

“As I said the other day, I promised my family, this organization and this team that I was going to give them the best version of me that I can possibly give them,” Vrabel said in a statement, per ESPN. 

“In order to do so, I have committed to seeking counseling, starting this weekend. This is something that I have given a lot of thought to and is something I would advise a player to do if I was counseling them.”

Vrabel also told reporters he’s had “some difficult conversations with people that I care about” regarding him and Russini being photographed together at a Sedona, Arizona, private resort in his first public comments about the controversial relationship. 

Dianna Russini, left, and Mike Vrabel, right, are shown in a split composite image featuring Russini with an ESPN microphone and Vrabel on the Titans sideline wearing a headset. (Imagn Images)

Since then, photos have surfaced from 2020 showing Vrabel and Russini kissing at a bar in New York City. The pictures exclusively obtained by the New York Post were taken in the early hours of March 11, 2020. 

“They were kissing, and they were all over each other,” an eyewitness told the outlet. “He had a ring on.”

Russini reportedly married Kevin Goldschmidt, her husband and a Shake Shack executive, six months after the photos were snapped. Goldschmidt and Russini also share two children. 

Vrabel has been married to his wife, Jen, since 1999, and they share two sons together. In the pictures, Vrabel’s wedding band is visible on his left hand while conversing with Russini. At the time, Russini was with ESPN, while Vrabel was coaching the Tennessee Titans.

 This past month, Vrabel and the former The Athletic reporter were seen holding hands and hugging at the luxury resort in Arizona. Photos of their intimate interaction were first released in April.

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaks during the 2026 NFL Annual League Meeting at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 31, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)

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 The photos showed the two sunbathing by a pool, in a hot tub and on the roof of a bungalow holding hands and embracing, which caused a league-wide uproar. Russini, the subject of an investigation by her employer, The Athletic, resigned as a result. 

Vrabel has since returned to the Patriots as they continue their offseason workout program. The team’s rookie minicamp is also slated for May 8-10.

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