The NCAA on Thursday announced that it would expand its men's and women's basketball teams to 76 in next season's tournaments. 

This was made possible by a change in policy that allows for sponsorships from alcoholic beverage makers, the Associated Press reported. 

The 76-team brackets will fit eight more games into the front half of the first week of each tournament, for a total of 12 involving 24 teams. The First Four, as it's known, will become a bigger event called the March Madness Opening Round. 

The 12 winners of that round will move into the main 64-team bracket that will begin on Thursday for the men and Friday for the women. There will now be 120 games across two tournaments over seven days, which will set the table fo the Sweet 16s.