Dan Hurley - Expanding tourney would devalue regular season

HOUSTON — An NCAA committee could soon announce a recommendation on potential expansion of the NCAA tournament field, but UConn men's basketball coach Dan Hurley says he believes the tournament is fine with 68 teams.

Hurley, who will attempt to lead the Huskies to their fifth national title since 1999 in the national championship game against San Diego State on Monday night, said the NCAA tournament is flawed but expansion is not the answer.

«For me, I think it's great the way it is,» Hurley said at his pregame news conference at NRG Stadium on Sunday. «I feel like devaluing the regular season, I think, potentially hurts the regular season and what it means. I think the pressure to have to win games and being rewarded for winning big nonconference games and then taking care of enough business in the league… I think it's a privilege to play in this tournament, not a right.»

But it's not perfect. Hurley, who coached Rhode Island before accepting the UConn job in 2018, said the formula for selecting teams sometimes rewards teams with brand names over deserving mid-major schools.

«I do think, though, that there are probably mid-major programs, a lot of times, that are more deserving than like a 10th-place team in a power conference that has figured out how to just game the numbers, so I'll say that. I see that on Selection Sunday sometimes. And I cringe at that.»

On Saturday, new NCAA president Charlie Baker told reporters at the Final Four that a recommendation of possible expansion from the NCAA committee studying the issue could come as early as this summer.

On ESPN Radio's «Keyshawn, JWill & Max» on Friday, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said that «he wouldn't go to 90 [teams]» but he is in favor of more teams earning