Pastner says Memphis scheduling Arizona State for home-and-home series

Tucson Citizen
by Javier Morales on Apr.17, 2010, under Sports

Memphis coach Josh Pastner was a recent guest on the “Ryan and Brad Whenever” podcast, and among the topics discussed was Pastner’s non-conference scheduling.

Pastner, a former UA player and assistant coach, told hosts Brad Malone and Ryan Mayes that Memphis is currently scheduling a home-and-home series with ASU. When asked if a schedule with Arizona is possible, Pastner said, “You know, I haven’t even thought about that to be honest with you.”

Pastner indicated to me upon his hiring at Memphis last year that he welcomed the idea of coaching against his alma mater.

“I think that would be an intriguing match-up,” Pastner told me last June. “There would be a lot of fan interest from both directions. Memphis will look at its scheduling and decide what’s best for its schedule, and Arizona will do the same, I’m sure.”

Among other things discussed in the podcast, Malone asks Pastner about the proposed NCAA tournament expansion to 96 teams. Pastner said the tournament should actually expand to 128 teams so a team is not put in a disadvantage with a bye. Under the 96-team setup, some of the higher seeds will be given byes, which is not always a good thing, according to Pastner.