By Jimmy Hyams
SANDESTIN, FLA. — The Atlantic Coast Conference has proposed expanding the NCAA men’s tournament field from 68 to 72 teams.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes has no objection.
“I don’t think at any point in time when we expanded, has it ever hurt the tournament,’’ Barnes said Tuesday at the SEC Spring Meetings. “It’s only made it better.
“My gut feeling is it’s not going to hurt us in any way, shape or form. I think somewhere along the line it will be good because there are so many teams now (that are deserving of a bid.) There is real parity whether we want to admit it or not.’’
That parity has led many teams on the bubble to complain about being snubbed. In most cases, teams didn’t do enough to get an invite. But in some cases, teams compare resumes and feel they were more deserving that some teams that got an at-large bid into the 68-team field.
“Allowing more teams to get in it, I would be all for it,’’ Barnes said.
Barnes noted that the tournament has increased from 16 to 24 to 32 to 48 to 64 now 68 teams.
“At no point in time has expansion hurt us,’’ Barnes insisted.
Meanwhile, Barnes said he is unsure if he will sign another grad transfer.
Richmond grad transfer Khwan Fore, who committed to Tennessee April 30, said he has re-opened his recruiting, although UT is still an option.
“We’ll wait and see,’’ Barnes said about signing another grad transfer. “We are in position where we’ve got one scholarship. We’ll wait and see what we do with it.’’
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