Due to severe ADD I go down rabbit holes based on posts. You mentioned not being in the cellar 3 years in a row so I decided to see when the last time that happened was! Its currently happening with Nebraska at 3 straight last place finishes (one was a tie!!) and prior to that Rutgers did it for 4 straight years.
One of those programs has it seemingly turned around now (Rutgers!!!!!) and the other is ahead of the Gophers but still pretty bad (Nebraska). Lets dive into Rutgers first.
Rutgers appears to have fired their head coach after back to back 14th place finishes. Steve Pikiell took over and proceeded to finish 14th and 14th, before jumping to 10th in 18-19. He finished 5th in 19-20 with no postseason of course (Covid) and placed 6th in 20-21 and 4th in 21-22. They currently sit in 5th with a very crowded standings. 8/14 teams have 5 or 6 wins. Hence, I will say Rutgers has turned it around. On the path to making a 3rd consecutive tourney and would have been 4th had Covid not canceled one of them.
Nebraska also fired a coach after a near last place finish (Tim Miles, 2018-19 season) despite him finishing 4th the season before. In came Fred Hoiberg who has done nothing to elevate that program. Hoiberg is 9-51 in the B1G in his first three seasons at the helm with a career best T-13th finish last season. I have not been paying attention BUT one has to assume Hoiberg's seat is very very hot. It is unlikely he finishes 14th this season but would 12th or 13th be enough to keep him employed in Lincoln? Time will tell. The lack of progress is an issue.
Why does any of this matter? It really doesnt aside from showing a few last place finishes can be turned around in a few years by the right coach. Pikiell didnt inherit a known winner. It isn't MSU or tOSU. Its Rutgers. He is winning at Rutgers. I know there is talent in that area but its RUTGERS. One of the historically bad departments in nearly every sport. It also shows a big name coach, one with history and a proven record may not be the answer at a lower level school as we see Hoiberg struggling mightily for GBR. If they move on from Hoiberg, they then give the next coach a few years to get out of the basement and onto the main floor. Let alone the pent house. Its a sad cycle.
Pitino never finished 14th in the conference but was a perennial participant of weakling wednesday. I think its splitting hairs to compare 14th to 13th and think 13th is a significantly better achievement. Johnson finishing bottom couple becomes an issue after next year. His recruiting will need to begin to pay dividends and he'll need to keep the team together to follow the Pikiell path. Without doing more research I will say I think the Hoiberg path of a perennial loser continuing to lose perennially is more common--especially for an unproven coach--but as our guy Bobby F wrote "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Hopefully Johnson takes whatever path it is that leads us to mediocrity or better.
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