UConn's Dan Hurley Worries NCAA Basketball Expansion Will Dilute Regular Season

The NCAA is considering expansion of the men's and women's basketball tournaments to 76 teams, a move that has drawn concerns from UConn head coach Dan Hurley.

No teams have joined the field since three were added in 2011. The tournament format would change under the plan, but Hurley, 53, focuses on preserving the regular season's value.

"What I think makes the tournament special is the qualification for it," Hurley told CBS Sports. "You don't want the regular season to be rendered meaningless and to take away from November, December, January, February. The qualification process makes the regular season intense and pressure-packed."

He said qualification should remain a privilege, not a right. Too much expansion could let teams with mediocre seasons qualify, diminishing the event.

"Does it get too big?" Hurley asked.

The two-time national champion said he loves the current tournament because it is hard to enter. "I love watching 1/16 games, 8/9 games, Dayton games. But I also love the fact that when it was 64, it was really hard to get in," he said. "You want it to be hard to get in. My biggest thing, too, is, you still have to win six games, right?"

The proposed setup would alter the opening days. On Tuesday and Wednesday, 24 teams would play 12 games at two sites, fueled by eight new at-large bids. The traditional 64-team bracket would start Thursday. Teams playing those early games would need seven wins to claim the championship, instead of six.