best coaching job in Big 10

[biittner77]

During the Illinois- Minnesota debacle, one of the announcers was talking about how respected Tubby Smith was and it made me wonder, if he's so highly thought of, why can't he get a better job than Minnesota? Which got me thinking about Big 10 jobs and how they would rank.

 

So I was curious how people would rank the big 10 jobs based on tradition, recent success, recruiting opportunities, location and other intangibles.

 

Taking homerism out as much as possible, what's the #1 job in the Big 10?

 

My ranking would go like this:

 

Mich State

Indiana

Illinois

Wisconsin

OSU

Minnesota

Michigan

Purdue

Iowa

Northwestern

Penn St.

[bukie]

I'd probably go more along the lines of

 

Indiana

Illinois

Michigan

Michigan State

Ohio State

Purdue

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Iowa

Penn State

Northwestern

[Tracer Bullet]

Indiana and MSU are 1-2 in some order. NW and PSU are 10-11 in some order. The rest are somewhere in the middle, depending on what you prefer as a coach.

[bukie]

Indiana and MSU are 1-2 in some order. NW and PSU are 10-11 in some order. The rest are somewhere in the middle, depending on what you prefer as a coach.

You really think MSU is a better coaching job than Michigan? Sure, MSU has had much more recent success and Michigan has been in a bit of a mess, but I still think Michigan is the more prestigious position

[SouthSideRyan]

This is a really loaded question. Is it taking over for the current coach in the current situation? Is it starting from scratch?

 

It seems like people are just ranking schools based on the prestige of their programs

[biittner77]

Indiana and MSU are 1-2 in some order. NW and PSU are 10-11 in some order. The rest are somewhere in the middle, depending on what you prefer as a coach.

 

I can't see a set of circumstances, with neutral loyalty, where Iowa would be a better job than Wisconsin. "Where can I recruit" becomes a big issue since Iowa doesn't have any large cities and "how do I get players to go there?" could be too rural as compared to say Columbus, East Lansing, Madison.

[biittner77]

This is a really loaded question. Is it taking over for the current coach in the current situation? Is it starting from scratch?

 

It seems like people are just ranking schools based on the prestige of their programs

 

Doesn't prestige play a big part regardless? Indiana is still the face of Big 10 basketball to a lot of people despite their recent troubles.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

1. MSU: Great fan base, much more realistic than IU's. Strong tradition built by Izzo, but his successor will struggle to live up to the tradition of excellence.

2. Indiana: Great tradition, but you will always be in RMK's shadow. Fan base is delusional, but will always be loyal to the team. Great state to recruit in.

3. Illinois: Strong basketball state. Another delusional fanbase with unrealistic expectations. Strong basketball tradition, good practice facilities, and a renovated or new arena is in the works. Biggest challenge is recruiting Chicago.

4. OSU: New arena, good basketball tradition. Fans are more interested in football, and lack passion in my opinion. High population state which has produced NBA talent recently.

5. Purdue: Upgraded facilities are on the way, but will always play second fiddle to IU.

6. Michigan: Has struggled for a long time but is a sleeping giant. Arena sucks, fan base cares more about spring football.

7: Wisconsin: Great facilities. Really no tradition until the last decade. Ryan is a perfect fit here.

8: Iowa: Hampered by lack of instate talent. When they recruit Illinois they are decent.

9: Minnesota: Love the Barn. Fan base gets interested when the team plays well.

10. PSU: meh

11. NU: Coach will always be reminded NU has never made the tourney.

[Tracer Bullet]

Indiana and MSU are 1-2 in some order. NW and PSU are 10-11 in some order. The rest are somewhere in the middle, depending on what you prefer as a coach.

 

I can't see a set of circumstances, with neutral loyalty, where Iowa would be a better job than Wisconsin. "Where can I recruit" becomes a big issue since Iowa doesn't have any large cities and "how do I get players to go there?" could be too rural as compared to say Columbus, East Lansing, Madison.

 

Wisconsin's probably better than Iowa. I just don't think the difference between all the other schools is that significant. I could reasonably see a coach preferring almost any of the other 7 schools to any other.

 

As for UM v. MSU - most definitely MSU is seen as the better gig. Even in West Michigan, UM fans dominate MSU fans almost 2-1. But the vast majority would recognize MSU as the better gig for hoops. I think IU's prestige is enough to overcome its recent struggles. Being the guy to bring IU back to where Knight had it would be historical. I don't think any other team in the Big Ten can say the same.

[SouthSideRyan]

This is a really loaded question. Is it taking over for the current coach in the current situation? Is it starting from scratch?

 

It seems like people are just ranking schools based on the prestige of their programs

 

Doesn't prestige play a big part regardless? Indiana is still the face of Big 10 basketball to a lot of people despite their recent troubles.

 

You couldn't pay me enough to take the present day IU job over present day MSU

[rawaction]

This is kind of tough. As far as tradition goes, nobody beats IU. Michigan St and Ohio St. has the recent success. I think the state of Indiana has some pretty good players so I would say IU and Purdue get the edge in recruiting opps. IU over Purdue because of the tradition, but Purdue has the recent success over IU. Location I would give to Ohio St.

 

Ohio St.

Michigan St.

Indiana

Michigan

Illinois

Purdue

Wisconsin

Iowa

Minnesota

Northwestern

Penn St.

[Tracer Bullet]

This is a really loaded question. Is it taking over for the current coach in the current situation? Is it starting from scratch?

 

It seems like people are just ranking schools based on the prestige of their programs

 

Doesn't prestige play a big part regardless? Indiana is still the face of Big 10 basketball to a lot of people despite their recent troubles.

 

You couldn't pay me enough to take the present day IU job over present day MSU

 

some here may scoff, but maybe your ego isn't big enough. A coach with a huge ego would love to be the guy that brought IU back to NCAA glory.

[biittner77]

Is IU basketball a better or worse situation than Notre Dame football? Different sports but similar in terms of tradition vs unrealistic expectations.

[Tracer Bullet]

Is IU basketball a better or worse situation than Notre Dame football? Different sports but similar in terms of tradition vs unrealistic expectations.

 

I'd say IU is worse right now, given the lack of talent and the issues Sampson had. Weis, for all his faults, left the cupboard pretty damn stocked. A quality college coach can turn ND around pretty quickly. I'm not sure the same is true for IU.

 

But I think the analogy is right on. A big ego coach is going to look at a program like ND football or IU hoops and see the path to historical relevance that you just don't get at many programs.

[SouthSideRyan]

Is IU basketball a better or worse situation than Notre Dame football? Different sports but similar in terms of tradition vs unrealistic expectations.

 

Worse. And with all the Notre Dame prestige, would anybody here take that job over Texas or Florida or USC?

 

A big problem some IU fans are having is the same problem some ND fans are having where they expect their teams to be national title contenders every year all because they won titles before any kid playing for them was born.

[SouthSideRyan]

This is a really loaded question. Is it taking over for the current coach in the current situation? Is it starting from scratch?

 

It seems like people are just ranking schools based on the prestige of their programs

 

Doesn't prestige play a big part regardless? Indiana is still the face of Big 10 basketball to a lot of people despite their recent troubles.

 

You couldn't pay me enough to take the present day IU job over present day MSU

 

some here may scoff, but maybe your ego isn't big enough. A coach with a huge ego would love to be the guy that brought IU back to NCAA glory.

 

Are you saying Clappy clap Clapster has an ego?

[Tracer Bullet]

Is IU basketball a better or worse situation than Notre Dame football? Different sports but similar in terms of tradition vs unrealistic expectations.

 

Worse. And with all the Notre Dame prestige, would anybody here take that job over Texas or Florida or USC?

 

A big problem some IU fans are having is the same problem some ND fans are having where they expect their teams to be national title contenders every year all because they won titles before any kid playing for them was born.

 

The problem with those comparisons in CFB is the rules aren't the same at ND as they are almost anywhere else. Even without ND some schools are just too different to compare. Would Mack Brown succeed at USC? Can you see Pom Pom Pete recruiting well in Texas or Alabama?

[biittner77]

A basketball program is much easier to turn around though. If you can get 2-3 good players you can fill out the rest of the roster with willing role players and go from terrible to not too bad in a couple years. Once things are headed in the right direction recruiting becomes a lot easier.

[ConstableRabbit]

Is salary included in the dicsussion? Carmody is getting paid.

[rawaction]

I see this thread turning into an IU fans are delusional and haven't won forever bashing fest.

[SouthSideRyan]

I see this thread turning into an IU fans are delusional and haven't won forever bashing fest.

 

To be fair, I'm a Notre Dame football fan.

[soapy]

Is IU basketball a better or worse situation than Notre Dame football? Different sports but similar in terms of tradition vs unrealistic expectations.

 

Worse. And with all the Notre Dame prestige, would anybody here take that job over Texas or Florida or USC?

 

A big problem some IU fans are having is the same problem some ND fans are having where they expect their teams to be national title contenders every year all because they won titles before any kid playing for them was born.

 

Agree with the first part, the IU bball position is worse. I think your second paragraph might be off in terms of IU fans expectations. I don't really know anyone at this point that expects IU to ever go back to having the sort of success they enjoyed from the mid 70's to the mid 90's. Or at least, that portion of the fan base is extremely small at this point.

 

ETA: And I think your bolded drops IU a lot further down this list than most people have them. Recruits don't even remember a time when IU had that kind of success. I don't imagine they get that overwhelming impression of IU having some storied tradition. I mean, they can see the banners, but I'm sure that seems like an eternity ago.

[SouthSideRyan]

Is IU basketball a better or worse situation than Notre Dame football? Different sports but similar in terms of tradition vs unrealistic expectations.

 

Worse. And with all the Notre Dame prestige, would anybody here take that job over Texas or Florida or USC?

 

A big problem some IU fans are having is the same problem some ND fans are having where they expect their teams to be national title contenders every year all because they won titles before any kid playing for them was born.

 

Agree with the first part, the IU bball position is worse. I think your second paragraph might be off in terms of IU fans expectations. I don't really know anyone at this point that expects IU to ever go back to having the sort of success they enjoyed from the mid 70's to the mid 90's. Or at least, that portion of the fan base is extremely small at this point.

 

ETA: And I think your bolded drops IU a lot further down this list than most people have them. Recruits don't even remember a time when IU had that kind of success. I don't imagine they get that overwhelming impression of IU having some storied tradition. I mean, they can see the banners, but I'm sure that seems like an eternity ago.

 

It's why I went back and added "some" in front of both IU and ND. I know from CubinNY's frothing ramblings how some people view Notre Dame, and I know from a sampling of Peegs how some IU fans are. Nobody here acts that way, and no ND fans I know act that way, but it's a real case to me of the dumbest 10% yelling the loudest.

[Rusch33]

Extremely hard, but putting Purdue/Iowa at the bottom of the Big 10 with Penn State/Northwestern is a joke if you want to include prestige.

[Tracer Bullet]

Is IU basketball a better or worse situation than Notre Dame football? Different sports but similar in terms of tradition vs unrealistic expectations.

 

Worse. And with all the Notre Dame prestige, would anybody here take that job over Texas or Florida or USC?

 

A big problem some IU fans are having is the same problem some ND fans are having where they expect their teams to be national title contenders every year all because they won titles before any kid playing for them was born.

 

Agree with the first part, the IU bball position is worse. I think your second paragraph might be off in terms of IU fans expectations. I don't really know anyone at this point that expects IU to ever go back to having the sort of success they enjoyed from the mid 70's to the mid 90's. Or at least, that portion of the fan base is extremely small at this point.

 

ETA: And I think your bolded drops IU a lot further down this list than most people have them. Recruits don't even remember a time when IU had that kind of success. I don't imagine they get that overwhelming impression of IU having some storied tradition. I mean, they can see the banners, but I'm sure that seems like an eternity ago.

 

I don't know how basketball recruits are, but I think tradition can go a long way, even if the last championship wasn't during their lifetime. I don't think there are many schools with the kind of hoops tradition IU has. Tradition with no chance of winning during their time at the school is a non-starter for most recruits. But tradition will overcome some other negatives and probably give recruits a sense of hope that may not be completely reasonable.

 

And I'm in no way an IU fan. I really don't care much about them one way or the other.