Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl said Tuesday the list of assistant coaching candidates is back up to five, and according to a source close to the program, Rod Barnes and Josh Oppenheimer will interview in Knoxville this week.

The Vols are replacing Scott Edgar, Pearl's former No. 2 assistant, who left to take the top job at Southeast Missouri State.

"I'm heavily involved in five guys in the process,'' said Pearl, who returned from an AAU basketball tournament in Las Vegas on Monday night. "I'll be bringing in a couple of candidates this week.''

Barnes, the former coach at Ole Miss, could be in as early as today. Barnes is known for his ability to coach defense as well as solid player relations.

Oppenheimer, an assistant at Kent State, was on the original list of five candidates reported by the News Sentinel, but he was not believed to be in the top three as of last week.

Oppenheimer has an impressive resume at mid-major programs that includes a three-year stint at DePaul as well as two years at Delaware and Duquesne.

As a player, Oppenheimer helped Rhode Island reach the Sweet 16 as a freshman before transferring to Northern Arizona where he averaged 17.5 points per game over the next three seasons.

Pearl wouldn't elaborate on the candidates, but he said the hiring process requires him to be thorough.

"We said last week this was the time when we would really jump into it,'' Pearl said. "It takes a lot of research and information to make the right hire.''

Iowa State assistant Damon Archibald was in Knoxville last week. The two other candidates still under consideration are ABA coach/general manager Bob Sundvold and former Texas San-Antonio coach Tim Carter.

NIT Field: A list of 14 of the 16 teams playing in this season's preseason NIT has been released, but the matchups aren't set.

In addition to Tennessee, which is likely to host a first- and perhaps second-round preseason NIT game, the teams are North Carolina, Gonzaga, Notre Dame, Indiana, Marquette, Winthrop, Butler, Rice, Iona, Sacred Heart, Baylor, Fordham and Colorado State.

Four of those teams, including Tennessee, are in the preseason Top 25 of ESPN.com's Andy Katz.

North Carolina is No. 3 on that list, Tennessee is No. 22, Gonzaga is No. 23 and Marquette is No. 24.

The Vols also play Katz's No. 1 team during the regular season, Florida, as well as No. 4 LSU, No. 7 Memphis, No. 8 Texas, No. 9 Alabama and No. 21 Oklahoma State.

Next season's schedule has yet to be completed.

Scepter Gone: UT graduate assistant Scepter Brownlee will join Edgar's Southeast Missouri staff as a full-time coach. Brownlee, listed as the Vols' senior manager, was a two-year letterman at the University of San Francisco where he earned the Most Inspirational Player and Sixth Man Club Team Captain awards at the conclusion of the 2002-03 season.