Delany: Don't punish Big Ten for tough 'D'

Posted March 11, 2009 11:00 pm

Associated Press

CHAMPAIGN - Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany doesn't believe the conference's defense-first style of basketball will hurt it with the NCAA tournament selection committee. And he says it's wrong to cast the Big Ten as a boring basketball conference.

Delany told reporters Wednesday at the University of Illinois that the Big Ten's defensive basketball stacks up well against the country's best conferences.

He says the Big Ten should get at least six teams into the NCAA Tournament this year.

And, despite pleas from some of his own coaches for an expanded NCAA Tournament, Delany wants no part of it.

He says the current 64-team field includes everyone in the country with a chance to win the title. And he believes a larger field would devalue a regular season already struggling for relevance.

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