Dan Hurley and UConn are coming off a third appearance in the National Championship game in the past four years, an impressive feat for most programs.
While this past year’s team didn’t cut down the nets after a loss to the Michigan Wolverines, they had a magical run through the NCAA Tournament, including an incredible comeback and a game-winning shot against Duke in the Elite Eight.
UConn also achieved wins against powerhouse programs, UCLA, Michigan State, and Illinois, along the way, before Dusty May and Michigan ended their run.
On Thursday, news arrived that the NCAA would officially expand the men’s and women’s tournament fields from 68 to 76 teams beginning with the 2027 edition of the popular event.
UConn, Michigan Working to Finalize College Basketball Rematch: Report
Hurley recently appeared on “The Field of 68” podcast to discuss his thoughts on the upcoming tournament expansion and explained why he’s not a fan of the concept.
“I loved the exclusivity of it. I loved the fact that it was a hard tournament to qualify for. I think the best sporting events you actually have to have a difficulty qualifying for … So yeah, I don’t like it from that standpoint,” he said.
The new format means an increase in the number of first-round games. Instead of the First Four games, there would be six opening-round games to determine who advances to face higher-seeded teams in the four bracket regions.
A blank bracket is already circulating on social media, showing the new setup for the opening-round games. College basketball insider Any Katz also explained how it would work in his new video on X.
Hurley doesn’t appear to be fully campaigning against the new tournament setup, indicating he’s willing to embrace it on one condition: that it doesn’t hurt teams that put in the work and earn higher seeds based on their season results.
“I’m like 85 percent coming around to it. As long as it doesn’t make it tougher for the teams that earn the higher seeds,” he explained, adding, “This tournament’s hard enough to win six games without something going bad.”
That happened with Hurley’s squad, but before the tournament, as they had injuries to deal with for starter Silas DeMary Jr. and reserve Jaylin Stewart. Both were able to play in some of UConn’s tournament games, but other coaches saw their rosters hit by unfortunate injuries that hindered their March Madness runs.
Most sports leagues have been increasing their postseasons, such as the NFL with additional teams qualifying, or the NBA’s play-in tournament to determine the final two seeds in each conference.
Now, the NCAA will follow suit with its massive multi-day event, and time will tell whether it is helpful or harmful to college basketball.
Sophie Cunningham Tells Angel Reese to ‘Move On’ Amid Rumored Drama
For more about UConn and college basketball, head to Newsweek Sports.
Read the full article here
