BleedGopher
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Per Zach:
Toledo men's basketball coach Tod Kowalczyk has found a way to make his program's mid-major status work for them.
The other side of the debate argues that there's nothing to be gained by denying reality as it exists. "Never forget what you are," Tyrion Lannister says in Game of Thrones. "The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you."
This side of the aisle is making moves, preparing to release a Group of 5 Top 25, the first step in a possible precursor to a Group of 5 playoff.
Those are 30,000-foot issues. On the ground, Tod Kowalcyzk is making his program's middle-class status work for him.
Kowalczyk is the head coach of Toledo's men's basketball team, and he's built the Rockets into one of the top programs at the mid-major level in any sport. Beginning in 2020-21, Toledo has won four straight MAC regular season championships, going 62-13 against their conference brethren over that span.
After the season, which ended in the NIT first round, Toledo watched All-MAC First Team guard Ra'Heim Moss leave for Oregon, All-MAC Second Team guard Dylan Maddox exit for Xavier, and MAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Cochran transfer to Oregon State.
Kowalczyk and his staff responded by working the portal for themselves, bringing in two players from MAC rivals, along with a Division II player. After losing now five players to bigger programs in the past four years, Toledo is responding by acknowledging reality as it is, then making the portal part of their pitch.
“It's a conversation we're having all the time,” Kowalczyk told the Toledo Blade. “My staff thinks I need to do a little bit more of that. Maybe you say, ‘Listen, you come play for me, we'll get you to the Big Ten in two years.’”
Embracing Toledo's status as a feeder program is a full-on dystopia for many within college sports. I get it. And it's easier to build through the portal in basketball, where the sheer numbers aren't as big and success isn't as size-dependent as football. But what would Tyrion Lannister say?
“We can all say we don’t like change, but if you don’t adapt, you’re not going to win,” he said. “We all like to win.”
Go Gophers!!
Toledo men's basketball coach Tod Kowalczyk has found a way to make his program's mid-major status work for them.
The other side of the debate argues that there's nothing to be gained by denying reality as it exists. "Never forget what you are," Tyrion Lannister says in Game of Thrones. "The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you."
This side of the aisle is making moves, preparing to release a Group of 5 Top 25, the first step in a possible precursor to a Group of 5 playoff.
Those are 30,000-foot issues. On the ground, Tod Kowalcyzk is making his program's middle-class status work for him.
Kowalczyk is the head coach of Toledo's men's basketball team, and he's built the Rockets into one of the top programs at the mid-major level in any sport. Beginning in 2020-21, Toledo has won four straight MAC regular season championships, going 62-13 against their conference brethren over that span.
After the season, which ended in the NIT first round, Toledo watched All-MAC First Team guard Ra'Heim Moss leave for Oregon, All-MAC Second Team guard Dylan Maddox exit for Xavier, and MAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Cochran transfer to Oregon State.
Kowalczyk and his staff responded by working the portal for themselves, bringing in two players from MAC rivals, along with a Division II player. After losing now five players to bigger programs in the past four years, Toledo is responding by acknowledging reality as it is, then making the portal part of their pitch.
“It's a conversation we're having all the time,” Kowalczyk told the Toledo Blade. “My staff thinks I need to do a little bit more of that. Maybe you say, ‘Listen, you come play for me, we'll get you to the Big Ten in two years.’”
Embracing Toledo's status as a feeder program is a full-on dystopia for many within college sports. I get it. And it's easier to build through the portal in basketball, where the sheer numbers aren't as big and success isn't as size-dependent as football. But what would Tyrion Lannister say?
“We can all say we don’t like change, but if you don’t adapt, you’re not going to win,” he said. “We all like to win.”
Go Gophers!!
, it’s Countytime!
