Newest Big Ten Coaches (Last Three Years)

[SonOfMoonlight]

Big Ten Records

Tubby Smith: 25-27
John Beilein: 20-32
Todd Lickliter: 15-37
Tom Crean: 4-30

I realize this doesn't tell the whole story. However, I think it says something about the difficulty of creating a top-tier Big Ten program. Matt Painter finished 11th his first year as well. One might say he beat the traffic in trying to establish a new powerhouse in the Big Ten. Each of these coaches has proven success at other programs. Building a contender doesn't happen overnight (unless you're a sleazeball like UK's coach). Given everything that's gone wrong this year, NCAA would be a big accomplishment.

 

[Tater]

Thank goodness we didn't get Todd L as coach (Monson 2.0).

 

[Mikie S]

Shall we point out that Tubby's first two years at Minnesota are the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in school history?

 

[panndder]

Michigan's year has been a mystery to most everyone. Tubby, while unquestionably a great coach, walked into a better situation (believe it or not) than Lickliter or Crean.

 

[SelectionSunday]

We're beating some NCAA-quality teams away from home

"Shall we point out that Tubby's first two years at Minnesota are the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in school history?"

If you didn't, I'm sure FOT would have.

(Not sure if you're counting "vacated seasons", but I'm pretty sure we had back-to-back 20-win seasons under Clem (1996-97 and 1997-98).)

Anyhoo, 20 wins nowadays is an overrated stat; more games + increased soft scheduling at home + 4 postseason tournaments (NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT) = more 20-win seasons.

I'd focus more on the fact we're starting to beat some quality teams (read: NCAA) away from the friendly confines of Williams Arena. We hadn't done that in ages (March of '98 vs. Sparty at BTT) until Tubby arrived. ... I'm talking a major gooseegg spanning the Clem & (mostly) Monson years. Under Tubby we've already beaten IU (in Indy), Louisville (in Arizona), Wisconsin (@ Kohl Center, where we'd never won) and Butler (in Anaheim). Illinois, where we hadn't won since 1996, will be another one if the Illini make the tourney. That's at least 4 and maybe 5 after not having any in a decade. That's significant progress.

Actually, what the Gophers need to start doing now is consistently take care of the upper-echelon Big Ten opponents at The Barn. We're getting there, but for the most part not finishing the deal (i.e. MSU & Purdue this season). Start doing that and get even a little more reliable on the road and then we'll see our our 8-10, 9-9, 10-8-type Big Ten records become 12-6, 13-5, 14-4, etc. Not an easy step to take, as we're finding out, but we're making some progress.

 

[The-Real-Truth]

Big Ten Records

Tubby Smith: 25-27
John Beilein: 20-32
Todd Lickliter: 15-37
Tom Crean: 4-30

I realize this doesn't tell the whole story. However, I think it says something about the difficulty of creating a top-tier Big Ten program. Matt Painter finished 11th his first year as well. One might say he beat the traffic in trying to establish a new powerhouse in the Big Ten. Each of these coaches has proven success at other programs. Building a contender doesn't happen overnight (unless you're a sleazeball like UK's coach). Given everything that's gone wrong this year, NCAA would be a big accomplishment.

Great post. Thank you.
Go Gophers

 

[anonymous]

John Beilein, however, is the only one of those four with a NCAA tournament victory at their current institution.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

"Shall we point out that Tubby's first two years at Minnesota are the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in school history?"

If you didn't, I'm sure FOT would have.

(Not sure if you're counting "vacated seasons", but I'm pretty sure we had back-to-back 20-win seasons under Clem (1996-97 and 1997-98).)

Anyhoo, 20 wins nowadays is an overrated stat; more games + increased soft scheduling at home + 4 postseason tournaments (NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT) = more 20-win seasons.

I'd focus more on the fact we're starting to beat some quality teams (read: NCAA) away from the friendly confines of Williams Arena. We hadn't done that in ages (March of '98 vs. Sparty at BTT) until Tubby arrived. ... I'm talking a major gooseegg spanning the Clem & (mostly) Monson years. Under Tubby we've already beaten IU (in Indy), Louisville (in Arizona), Wisconsin (@ Kohl Center, where we'd never won) and Butler (in Anaheim). Illinois, where we hadn't won since 1996, will be another one if the Illini make the tourney. That's at least 4 and maybe 5 after not having any in a decade. That's significant progress.

Actually, what the Gophers need to start doing now is consistently take care of the upper-echelon Big Ten opponents at The Barn. We're getting there, but for the most part not finishing the deal (i.e. MSU & Purdue this season). Start doing that and get even a little more reliable on the road and then we'll see our our 8-10, 9-9, 10-8-type Big Ten records become 12-6, 13-5, 14-4, etc. Not an easy step to take, as we're finding out, but we're making some progress.

I doubt that's accurate. Gophers have had plenty of 20 W seasons before.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

I doubt that's accurate. Gophers have had plenty of 20 W seasons before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Golden_Gophers_men's_basketball If you ignore the "fraud" seasons, it is accurate.