Maybe we should let them all in NCAAs

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The NCAA Basketball Tournament is already taking shape.Or is it?While ESPN talking heads are speculating about the top seeds and how the Field of 64 (or 65 counting the play-in game) is shaping up, South Carolina coach Dave Odom suggests it's way to early to start taking up money for that office pool."I'm always amused at someone that says they are definitely in," Odom said. "I bet there aren't 10 teams in with six games to go in the league. The only team that's in in our league is Tennessee."Odom went on to say there are a few locks."In the ACC you have North Carolina and Duke in and there's not another team that's in," he said. "I wouldn't say Clemson is better than Maryland. That's a home team win. I still don't think Clemson is in. The Big Ten -- Indiana, Michigan State and Purdue -- Purdue is probably in if they keep winning because they have some bad losses. The Big 12 -- Kansas is in, Texas is probably in. The Big East -- Georgetown and UConn and Louisville are probably in."The Pac 10 -- UCLA is in and Washington State. That's 13. I was wrong. I would say Butler is in. That's 14, but there are too many games to play. You have to play it."From the standpoint of being on the outside looking in -- and at 5'7" with a one-inch vertical leap, I've always been on the outside looking in when it comes to hoops. I enjoy the late-season politicking by coaches trying to will their wallflowers into the Big Dance. Usually a relatively tough schedule and 20-plus wins will do it, although 20 wins aren't absolutely necessary in a power conference. You can look back at many seasons in which a 17-12 "big boy" snuck in at the expense of a 23-7 team from a mid-major.I've never had a real problem with how teams are selected, since I've always believed the squads that have a legitimate shot of winning it all are going to be in the field anyway. But several years ago an idea was bandied about that would open up the NCAA Tournament to all teams that play Division 1 ball, which currently is 327.Honestly, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.You can say that it would cheapen the regular season (opponents of a college football playoff use the same argument), but really, is the season not already cheapened?Outside of the Ivy League (which takes its regular-season champ and has no postseason tournament) the only way to automatically earn a berth is to win your conference tourney, effectively negating the regular season.Personally I think if you're a basketball fan, all games involving your team mean something. To that end, having a field of 64 or 640 really wouldn't make much difference.Until that happens, however, Odom is right. A lot of teams still have some winning to do before they hear their names called out on Selection Sunday.And even then, many will still have to sweat it out.(Contact Scott Adamson of the Anderson Independent-Mail in Anderson, S.C., at www.andersonsc.com.)