Five Guys On A Shortlist: If the U Decides Change Is Needed, Aim High & Don't Be Cheap With That Big Ten Cash

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SelectionSunday

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By Buzz King (@Fieldof68Freak)

ROAD TO SELECTION SUNDAY -- A look back at the week in college basketball, as always starting with our weekly “Field of 68” projection. Projected automatic qualifiers in multiple-bid conferences are noted with an *. Teams are listed in order of NET ranking.

FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (through games played 12/20/24)
America East (1): Maine (165)

American (1): Memphis (36)

ACC (3): *Duke (3), Pitt (11), Clemson (30)

ASUN (1): Lipscomb (95)

Atlantic 10 (2): *Dayton (47), Saint Bonaventure (54)

Big East (3): Marquette (10), UConn (14), *Saint John’s (23)

Big Sky (1): Montana State (139)

Big South (1): High Point (151)

Big Ten (10): Maryland (8), *UCLA (12), Illinois (15), Oregon (16), Michigan State (21), Michigan (26), Penn State (28), Purdue (31), Wisconsin (40), Nebraska (60)

Big XII (8): *Iowa State (5), Houston (7), Baylor (17), Kansas (19), Cincinnati (22), Texas Tech (25), West Virginia (29), Arizona State (51)

Big West (1): UC-San Diego (57)

Coastal (1): Hampton (233)

Conference USA (1): Liberty (64)

Horizon (1): Youngstown State (207)

Ivy (1): Columbia (96)

MAAC (1): Merrimack (189)

MAC (1): Kent State (102)

MEAC (1): Norfolk State (158)

Missouri Valley (2): Drake (43), *Indiana State (179)

Mountain West (3): *Utah State (42), Boise State (52), San Diego State (55)

NEC (1): Central Connecticut (132)

OVC (1): Little Rock (244) replaces Southern Indiana (240), ineligible for NCAA Tournament

Patriot (1): Holy Cross (218)

SEC (13): *Auburn (1), Tennessee (2), Florida (6), Kentucky (9), Alabama (13), Georgia (18), Mississippi State (20), Texas A&M (24), Ole Miss (27), Missouri (37), Vanderbilt (38), Oklahoma (41), Arkansas (48)

SoCon (1): Furman (88)

Southland (1): Lamar (157)

SWAC (1): Southern U (203)

Summit (1): North Dakota State (93)

Sun Belt (1): Louisiana (339)

WCC (2): *Gonzaga (4), Saint Mary’s (50)

WAC (1): Grand Canyon (114)
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Bid Stealers (1): Indiana State (179)

Last 4 In: Cincinnati (22), Arkansas (48), Boise State (52), Nebraska (60)

First 4 Out: Oregon State (33), Texas (39), SMU (44), Nevada (49)

On the Radar (5): UC-Irvine (34), BYU (45), Iowa (56), LSU (58), Northwestern (61)

Non-Power 5 At-Large Bids (5): Drake (43), Saint Mary’s (50), Boise State (52), Saint Bonaventure (54), San Diego State (55)
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RANDOM RAMBLIN’ MUSINGS
Five Guys (no fries)
If the University of Minnesota/Athletic Director Mark Coyle decide to make a change, I’d have these 5 coaches on a shortlist to gauge their interest in becoming the next Gophers head coach: Ben McCollum (Drake), Greg McDermott (Creighton), Niko Medved (Colorado State), Sean Miller (Xavier), and TJ Otzelberger (Iowa State). Aim high, don’t be looking to hire someone on the cheap.

I don’t care how crappy and irrelevant the Gophers have been recently, Minnesota still is a Big Ten job. In today’s “Power 2” climate, jobs in the Big Ten and SEC are coveted ($$$$$$$); there’s only 34 of ‘em. Use some of that Big Ten TV partner money. Are you serious about putting a competitive product on the floor or not?

Start your search with proven high-major head coaches, (1) Otzelberger, (2) Miller, and (3) McDermott, in that order. You won’t know if you don’t ask. Make it hard to say no. If those splashy names turn you down, then turn your attention to guys like Medved – a U of M grad & program-builder at Furman/Drake/Colorado State — and McCollum, already doing yeoman’s work in his first season at Drake (Bulldogs are undefeated) after winning four Division II national championships at Northwest Missouri State. That’s just 5 names, and there certainly are other proven coaches out there who might be ready to make a move to the Big Ten.

Bluebloods Feelin’ the Blues
Arizona and North Carolina are a combined 0-10 vs. Power 5 opponents.

Bringin’ the Payne
Pharrel Payne is becoming a beast off the bench for Texas A&M (10-2). Friday vs. Houston Christian the former Gopher went for 10 points (5 for 7 FG), 7 boards (5 offensive), and 3 blocks. That followed a 12-points, (6 for 6 FG), 9 boards, 2 blocks performance in a win over Purdue.

Reach The Summit (League) Strong at the Top
It should be a fierce battle for the Summit League regular season championship. North Dakota State (#93), defending champ South Dakota State (#111), and St. Thomas (#123) all have had their moments in non-conference play.

NDSU (10-4) sports a 7-game winning streak and has wins at Butler and Santa Clara. SDSU (9-5) playing a tough non-conference schedule beat preseason Southland national darling McNeese on a neutral court. The Tommies (9-4) have won 5 straight including a pair in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge to improve their record to 4-0 in the challenge’s first two seasons. And up & down South Dakota (9-5) could be the wildcard. I’m already looking forward to Semifinal Monday on March 8 in Sioux Falls.

Tis’ the Season for Maine’s Black Bears?
With perennial kingpin Vermont (5-7, #249 NET) having an atypical down season, the America East automatic bid appears wide open. Currently, Maine (#165) is the top NET team in the America East, and it would be quite a story (I’ve mentioned it a few hundred times over the years) if the Black Bears earned their first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. And not just because of that. More amazingly, it also would mean the Black Bears will have won their first (and second & third) AE Tournament games SINCE TWO-THOUSAND FREAKING FIVE! That’s 19 seasons without a single conference tourney W.

Mele Kalikimaka in Hawaii
My picks for the Diamond Head Classic, the final in-season bracketed tournament (Dec. 22-23, 25). Though there are no Top 25 teams in the field, the tournament does have some pop. Nebraska, Oregon State, and Loyola-Chicago all have solid NCAA tourney aspirations, and winning the DHC would help their resume.

Quarterfinals: Oregon State over College of Charleston, Loyola-Chicago over Oakland, Nebraska over Murray State, Hawaii over Charlotte

Semifinals: Oregon State over Loyola-Chicago, Nebraska over Hawaii

Championship: Oregon State over Nebraska

Heart of the Bubblicious (NET #45-55) -- In or Out?
#45 BYU (OUT), #46 North Carolina (OUT), #47 Dayton (IN), #48 Arkansas (IN), #49 Nevada (OUT), #50 Saint Mary’s (IN), #51 Arizona State (IN), #52 Boise State (IN), #53 San Francisco (OUT), #54 Saint Bonaventure (IN), #55 San Diego State (IN)

The Unconquered 4
#2 Tennessee
#6 Florida
#41 Oklahoma
#43 Drake

POWER 5 HEAD-TO-HEAD (+ Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s/San Diego State)
1 SEC (59-17, 77.6%)
2 Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s/San Diego State (9-6, 60%)
3 Big Ten (26-24, 52%)
4 Big East (19-23, 45.2%)
5 Big XII (25-33, 43.1%)
6 ACC (15-50, 23.1%)

Team Non-Conference Record vs. Power 5
6-0: Oklahoma, Tennessee
5-0: Florida
4-0: Vanderbilt
3-0: Oregon
2-0: Missouri
1-0: UCLA
4-1: Auburn, Marquette, Wisconsin
6-2: Texas A&M
3-1: Georgia, Iowa State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Saint Mary’s, UConn
5-2: Alabama
4-2: Kansas
2-1: Cincinnati, Clemson, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas Tech
3-2: Butler, LSU, Pitt, Purdue, South Carolina, West Virginia
4-3: Gonzaga
3-3: Michigan
2-2: Arkansas, Duke, Indiana, Rutgers, Saint John’s, San Diego State, Texas
1-1: Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State
2-3: Baylor, Houston, Wake Forest, Xavier
2-4: Creighton, Louisville
1-2: Arizona State, BYU, Cal, Colorado, Georgetown, Illinois, Providence, SMU, TCU, UCF, Villanova
1-3: Ohio State, Virginia
1-4: Notre Dame
0-1: Boston College, DePaul, Iowa, Minnesota
0-2: Florida State, Kansas State, USC, Utah
0-3: Miami, Seton Hall
0-4: Georgia Tech, NC State, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
0-5: Arizona, North Carolina

Non-Power 5 Wins vs. Power 5 (45)
5: Memphis
3: Drake
2: Dayton, Nevada, New Mexico, North Florida, Saint Joseph’s, VCU
1 -- Austin Peay, Boise State, Cal Poly, Charleston Southern, Colorado State, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Davidson, Elon, FAU, Fordham, Grand Canyon, Hofstra, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Monmouth, North Dakota State, North Texas, Rhode Island, Saint Bonaventure, Santa Clara, Utah State, Wichita State

The Local NETters
#123 St. Thomas Tommies (9-4)
#168 Minnesota Gophers (6-5)

Tommies Week Ahead
Saturday: @ #279 Bowling Green (1 p.m. CT/ESPN+)

Tommies Stat Leaders
Miles Barnstable (12.8 ppg), Kendall Blue (4.2 rpg), Drake Dobbs (3.4 apg), Blue (1.2 spg), Dobbs (51.9 3PFG%), Nolan Minessale (1 bpg)

Tommies (D1) Non-Conference D1 Opponents
Arizona State (8-2)
Oklahoma State (7-3)
Milwaukee (7-4)
UC-Riverside (6-4)
Montana (4-5)
Northern Colorado (4-5)
Portland State (4-5)
Wofford (4-7)
Bowling Green (3-6)
Western Michigan (2-8)
Green Bay (2-10)
Chicago State (0-13)
Totals: (51-72, 41.5%)

Gophers Week Ahead
Saturday: Host #316 Fairleigh Dickinson (1 p.m./BTN)

Gophers Stat Leaders
Dawson Garcia (19.3 ppg), Garcia (7.1 rpg), Lu’Cye Patterson (3.7 apg), Femi Odukale (2.1 spg), Mike Mitchell Jr. (47.6 3PFG%), Odukale (1.3 bpg)

Gophers Non-Conference D1 Opponents
Wake Forest (9-3)
Wichita State (8-3)
North Texas (6-3)
Yale (5-5)
Cleveland State (5-6)
Central Michigan (2-5)
Bethune-Cookman (3-8)
Omaha (3-9)
Morgan State (2-8)
Oral Roberts (1-7)
Fairleigh Dickinson (1-9)
Totals: (45-66, 40.5%)

The B1G Tenuous Trio – hoping to make it to Weakling Wednesday
** The 3 Big Ten teams tracking toward an early end to their 2024-25 season (no invitation to Indianapolis & the Big Ten Tournament):

#16 Wisconsin (9-3, 0-2)
#17 Washington (8-3, 0-2)
#18 Minnesota (6-5, 0-2)

NET Kings
#1 Auburn (10-1)

Kinda’ Bubble Cutline
#50 Saint Mary’s (9-2)

Stuck in the Middle with You
#182 Seattle (2-8)

Bottom of the Barrel
#364 Mississippi Valley State (0-9)

Power 5 Non-Conference Head-to-Head
Saturday
Maryland vs. Syracuse (11 a.m./ESPN)
North Carolina vs. UCLA (2 p.m./CBS)
DePaul @ Northwestern (3 p.m./BTN)
Auburn vs. Purdue (3:30 p.m./ESPN)
Kentucky vs. Ohio State (4:30 p.m./CBS)
Iowa vs. Utah (5 p.m./BTN)
Oregon vs. Stanford, (7 p.m./BTN)
Cal vs. San Diego State (9:30 p.m./ACCN)

Sunday
Illinois vs. Missouri (noon/ESPN)

Next Field of 68: December 27
 
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Stan said:
Wow you are aiming high on 3 of those names, I love the moxie. I don’t think Coyle has it in him to snag a hire like that. But both CSU and Drake coaches would be big upgrade on the sidelines for us.
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Agree. Love the 3 names as well. I've been lobbying for Russell Turner from UC Irvine a few times. Seems like it could be hard considering he's been running a successful program there for 15 years.
 






LesBolstad said:
No :sick:
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That’s fair.

For me. … proven winner, gets on the refs, gets on his players, and excellent basketball coach. And yes, I know about the Arizona FBI audio tape.

That no longer matters to me. There no longer are any rules coaches have to abide by. My only requirement now is win and get good players/citizens who stay out of the police log.
 











Selection is 100% correct, we could make it really difficult for TJ to say no. He probably would but there is a bit of musical chairs with the Big Two jobs. Offer him $4 million - make him have to turn down top 15 money at a Big 10 school with extremely reasonable expectations.

If not, yeah, Sean Miller, Will Wade, one of those types. If those three turn it down or we just don’t want to pay enough to really compete, then just go find the best X’s and O’s Guy.
 

The Gophers have literally 0 chance at Otz, McD or Miller. 0. not .01, but zero.
 

bmb5270 said:
From the info I can find, Otzelberger makes 2.5 mil and McDermott 2.3. Ben making 2 mil is highway robbery.
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Based on the extension TJ signed in 2023, he is making at least $3 million/year right now, which is set to increase to $3.5 million in July.

He just signed a contract extension this week that takes his contract through 2032, which likely includes more raises.
 

tjgopher said:
Based on the extension TJ signed in 2023, he is making at least $3 million/year right now, which is set to increase to $3.5 million in July.

He just signed a contract extension this week that takes his contract through 2032, which likely includes more raises.
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Yeah and he also signed that extension as a way to say he's at ISU for life or leaving for a massive job.

Gophers should be put on 5 year probation for even being delusional enough to call him. I cant believe people keep putting this as an option.
 

MUgopher32 said:
Yeah and he also signed that extension as a way to say he's at ISU for life or leaving for a massive job.

Gophers should be put on 5 year probation for even being delusional enough to call him. I cant believe people keep putting this as an option.
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No one thinks we have a chance. The truth is that we can (probably woukdnt) offer him more money than he makes. Most people on the planet will at least listen to offers for more money. Everyone bringing up his name in this thread thinks we have a realistic chance.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
No one thinks we have a chance. The truth is that we can (probably woukdnt) offer him more money than he makes. Most people on the planet will at least listen to offers for more money. Everyone bringing up his name in this thread thinks we have a realistic chance.
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Forgetting about the state of the job.

But even money wise the Gophers are not upping the salaries of Otz or even McDermott or Miller. People are overestimating what we can spend for hoops and/or greatly underestimating what those teams all have.
 

MUgopher32 said:
Forgetting about the state of the job.

But even money wise the Gophers are not upping the salaries of Otz or even McDermott or Miller. People are overestimating what we can spend for hoops and/or greatly underestimating what those teams all have.
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No one is forgetting about the state of the job. The state of the job is why we don’t think it’s possible.

As far as the money goes, it’s mostly public record. The U, with the Big 10 contract, COULD pay $4 million per year but you’re right that they probably won’t.
 

Gonna take more than $4m per year.

Miller makes $5m per at Xavier.

Which tells me the U of M could pay more.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
No one is forgetting about the state of the job. The state of the job is why we don’t think it’s possible.

As far as the money goes, it’s mostly public record. The U, with the Big 10 contract, COULD pay $4 million per year but you’re right that they probably won’t.
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Again though, I think you are underestimating how much those other teams can pay. The two BE teams especially. They don't have football to budget for.

Otz has his pick of the liter basically so that's clearly why you are not going to draw him in any facet(money, league, program etc..). McD/Miller would require equivalent program plus more enticing conference(if there is one for them). Gophs even if they want to, do not have any sort of money offer to move the needle for these guys.
 

Kelvin Sampson would be a grand slam hire. I think he was just extended at Houston, but the guy has won at every place. And he wins without the 5 stars. His teams defend, rebound, and are as tough as nails. It would not take him 3-4 years to flip things, he would change things immediately and fill the barn.
 
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GrampaGopher said:
Kelvin Sampson would be a grand slam hire. I think he was just extended at Houston, but the guy has won at every place. And he wins without the 5 stars. His teams defend, rebound, and are as tough as nails. It would not take him 3-4 years to flip things, he would change things immediately and fill the barn.
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What the fu ck is going on here

We deserve to suck if people are going to keep tossing out insane ideas
 

MUgopher32 said:
Again though, I think you are underestimating how much those other teams can pay. The two BE teams especially. They don't have football to budget for.

Otz has his pick of the liter basically so that's clearly why you are not going to draw him in any facet(money, league, program etc..). McD/Miller would require equivalent program plus more enticing conference(if there is one for them). Gophs even if they want to, do not have any sort of money offer to move the needle for these guys.
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Out of curiosity, are you the Marquette guy who always talked up Pat Skerry?
 

MUgopher32 said:
Forgetting about the state of the job.

But even money wise the Gophers are not upping the salaries of Otz or even McDermott or Miller. People are overestimating what we can spend for hoops and/or greatly underestimating what those teams all have.
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Fair enough.

Let’s hear your recommendations. Give us 5 names Coyle should pursue?
 

I tend to agree that Otz is not gettable. I doubt Miller or McDermott are either outside of the B1G/Big East factor.

My top 10 (after obligatory calls to Dutcher and Musselman).

1. Brad Brownell-Clemson. This is a reach too. But he's been there a long time, been on the hot seat a couple times and the ACC might be UNC or FSU bolting away from chaos. Would have to pay him a Fleck-ian salary though.

2. Darian DeVries-WVU

3. Ben McCollum-Drake

4. Tad Boyle-Colorado

5. Niko Medved-CSU

6. Chris Mack-Charleston

7. Leon Rice-Boise

8. Craig Smith-Utah

9. Anthony Grant-Dayton

10. Sundance Wicks-Wyoming
 



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