Weber: Tourney expansion good for bubble teams
CHAMPAIGN -- Bruce Weber has done his time at mid-major Southern Illinois, and his Illini this year were a bubble team that didn't quite make it to the NCAA Tournament.
He says expansion makes life better for coaches and players in both situations. But he'd like to see the tournament get a little bigger, maybe 80 teams.
Weber took two SIU teams to the tournament and believes they proved they belonged. The 2001-02 team made it to the Sweet 16.
Weber also thinks this season's 21-15 Illini would have been an NCAA team under the new system.
He says critics of expansion are wrong when they argue that the last teams into the tournament don't matter. The coach says the Illini could have beaten a team or two.
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