It's that time of year: College coach carousel!

They should call it the Stan Heath rule. If you're at a mid-major and your team makes a run in the tournament, unless your school really ponies up the big bucks to keep you, you need to leave. The exceptions are Butler, Gonzaga, maybe Creighton, and perhaps a couple others. I don't consider MWC teams mid-majors although I guess technically they are. I had this argument with someone on this board last year on whether UNLV was a mid-major when it won the title.

 

Couple of things:

1. Where does the A-10 figure into your list?
2. Heath might be a bad name, since he took what might be the worst job in BCS-level hoops. Last year aside, I have no idea how USF will ever be a hoops winner. You're in a murderous conference and you're the fourth-biggest college hoops program (at best) in a state that barely cares about the sport to begin with.

 

That's a fair point. I have a hard time calling St. Joe's or Temple a mid-major.

 

Heath didn't leave a mid-major for USF. He landed there after getting run out of Fayetteville. And Arkansas isn't a bad job. It's the only school in the SEC West that even tries to win basketball games.

Speaking of the SEC West, I wonder if Rick Stansbury is in trouble. He underachieves every year, but this year was an exceptional suck job. State failed to win an impossibly easy SEC West, even with more talent than the rest of the division combined. Plus, there were the off-court problems. If this isn't the end of the line for Stansbury, I wonder what exactly he has to do to get fired.

 

Gah. I am filled to the brim with fail. Thanks for the Heath clarification. I had forgotten about that. A textbook example of DanOregon's point a few posts up.

 

I don't think he's in trouble, but the honeymoon is over. He's resorted to the same things that ultimately ended his time at Kentucky: he's a crab with the media, he throws his players under the bus, he cycles through lineups with no apparent reason or rhyme, and he just doesn't seem like he's all in. He *still* doesn't coach offense. He still doesn't recruit.

It was easy to blame Kentucky fans for "running off" Tubby Smith, and in a lot of ways, it's a miracle he didn't leave while he still did care about coaching basketball. But over the past six years (two at UK and four at Minny), he hasn't cared. And if he does care, he hasn't given the slightest indication that he does.

I thought Tubby was a perfect match for both Minnesota and the Big Ten. Turns out, he probably should have gone to the NBA when he had the chance.

 

Just for clarification - are mid-majors any non-BCS conference? Where is the dividing line between low-majors and mid-majors?

 

That's the thinking, I guess... Whether they are or not, I don't consider MWC schools mid-majors in hoops. I didn't consider UNLV a mid-major even when it was in the Big West. Utah, BYU? No way... I feel the same way about most of the A-10 teams.

 

Low majors are leagues that nearly always only get one bid to the tournament. Mid-majors at least have the hope of an at-large bid.

Low-majors: America East, Big South, Big West, Atlantic Sun, NEC, Ivy, Patriot, Southland, SWAC, MEAC, Big Sky, MAC, MAAC, Summit, OVC, Sun Belt

Mid-majors: SoCon, CAA, MVC, WAC, WCC (though Gonzaga is a major program), Horizon (some years)

Leagues with a mix of majors and mid-majors: MWC, A-10, CUSA

 

Also to my point from last night, if you play your conference tournament in Sioux Falls you aren't even a mid-major.

 

Phil's got a comfortable niche, he's such a Philly creature, and he won big enough to get his gym seriously upgraded.

Gillen didn't win like Barnes and Pitino, but was lucky enough to have Virginia moneywhip him before his record could get tarnished.

Providence is a tough sell, but it's a good opportunity. There will 17 Big East teams next year, but lower expectations. After these past two seasons, an NIT bid or NCAA bubble contention will make you a hero. And if you ever land a first-round bye in the Big East tournament, you can own the town (and get yourself moneywhipped by many a major - Welsh attracted some interest after his '01 and '04 NCAA bids).

 

Mostly agree. MAC is probably still a mid-major, recent lack of success notwithstanding. You could arguably add the WCC to the leagues with a mix once BYU migrates, since that gives you two major programs with Gonzaga.

Does the MWC really have any majors outside Utah, TCU and BYU, all of which are leaving? UNLV is sorta on the edge, but their history is what pulls them over to the major side, I guess. San Diego State is having a nice little run, but so did UMass in the 90's. They'll probably drop more firmly into the mid-major pile after those teams leave, unless SDSU or one of the newcomers becomes a player consistently. Remember when Nevada was so good that their coach complained the BracketBusters was beneath them? Not no mo', I reckon.

At what point does Xavier become a major, or has that already happened?