Inside the SEC: Coaches favor expanded tournament  Published:
Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 6:39 AM Mike Herndon column head
(new)Mike Herndon Asking a bunch of college basketball coaches
whether they favor expanding the NCAA tournament is sort of like
asking a bunch of gamblers if they think the casinos should pay
out more jackpots. But some, like Florida's Billy Donovan and
South Carolina's Darrin Horn, do acknowledge there would be pros
and cons for an expanded bracket that could include as many as
96 teams. "One of the things that may not be great for the
expansion is how important the regular season is," Donovan said
Monday. "There could be a level of diminishment there with an
expansion to 90-plus teams." But he added, "I would like to see
more people experience the NCAA tournament; that's just me."
Others, like Tennessee's Bruce Pearl and Auburn's Jeff Lebo,
were less nuanced in their support of the idea. "It's absolutely
a positive in my mind," Pearl said. "I don't believe it'll water
it down. There are