again, no offense intended, but until you've been to a F4 somewhere at D 3 or D2 I think you will mostly just get creamed at the BCS level. I guess the F4 isn't a hard line thing, I basically mean til you've built a legitimate contender at the lower levels the upper levels will be very tough for anyone. 

i've played 200+ seasons of HD and I still SUCK at D1 BCS after 20 seasons there.  maybe because I don't pay enough attention to some things but still...D1 BCS is a completely different ballgame

I was able to jump to Big 6 Washington State from D2 Tampa (6 seasons, 1 final four, 2 elite 8's, 1 sweet 16).

I was also able to jump to Big 6 Louisville from D1 Davidson after 10 seasons (6 NT appearances, 1 PIT appearance). I never had anyone drafted and I didn't win a NT game. 

If you can make some consecutive NT appearances - first round and outs - you'll qualify for a big 6 school. 2nd rounders would help a lot but you just have to be consistent. I think the PIT only serves to keep your prestige from dropping - if it's low enough it might even go up with PIT appearances but you gotta do better than that for a big 6 job. A coach I know landed a big east school after coaching Nevada in a mostly sim conference - but he was consistent with NT appearances for the most part and the school is a rebuild but it's still big 6 - There's always a few sim schools in big 6 conference with C'ish prestiges ready for a good coach. Don't quit, over this at least. Get some NT's on your resume and you'll be fine. Seems there's always turnover somewhere at the top.

Thanks, guys. I was just getting discouraged, because I thought this might be the year, with a couple of decent D1 jobs open, with prestige levels at the same level as mine. And with Grotberg as a senior, I thought my team would make the NT, and maybe even take the next step in making it to the round of 32. Instead, I choked in the CT semifinals to a TERRIBLE UMKC team. Campbell will still be super-solid next season, though, with Morgan and Martz as the senior core, and some up-and-comers in the juniors and sophomores. 

is it true that the CT operates under a diferent set of rules than the regular season?  Did that UMKC team receive a conference "bump"?

I do think there is a major disconnect among the Big 6 coaches relative to how easy it is for them to make the NT compared to a non-Big 6 team.  I don't need examples to prove I'm wrong, as there are so many more examples of where I am right.  At the same time, building a "dynasty" in most of the conferences is impossible or nearly impossible and so would like to see the marketing slogan be more honest and say, "Come get kicked in the balls while somebody who has been around a long time and got to where they are in a different system and therefore have really no clue of the current situation tells you that you need to recruit or schedule better." 

Unless the top guys are afraid of competition, if my DIV 1 team has a higher RPI than a sim coached team for 3 years, then that job should be mine.  If you want to make it 5 years, 7 years, 10 years that is fine.  The firing logic doesn't need to change because with new blood, at least some of the usual winners will become usual losers relative to having to play better competition.  After all, even though no one in the Big 6 wants to play conference sims, there are many that owe those games to their staying in D1.

Hang in there wildcat, someday you and I are going to be kicking balls and then we can tell WIS to even the playing field so we can compete against 100 user-coached teams rather than the 25 currently vying for ongoing championships.  I see the last few years going down as the "Steroid Years of WIS" in the distant future with us old and grey and reminiscing about the time when the game was so slanted towards the past success of the teams one has taken over rather than the work they did on a level playing field.  You'll get plenty of old-timers who will support you in sitemail on that and only a handful that come to the board without a grasp on reality and pretending to speak for the majority.

Thanks, man! Before this thread, I thought I had done a nice job rebuilding Campbell, and maybe deserved a shot at a low-level BCS school. I know I've got LOTS of room for improvement as a coach, but I was just frustrated that the jobs logic has left both of those jobs as sim-coached for years, and I can't even get a sniff there.

The honest truth here: It doesn't get any easier just because you arrive in a big 6 conference. I think this is a common misconception by coaches who are thirsty for a Big 6 team. The reality is the game gets harder (I think this is why some coaches prefer D2 and D3). Sure you can get better recruits but the competition is ruthless and once you actually start playing conference games - the **** really hits the fan. I doubt any top big 6 coaches are afraid of competition - in fact I think they relish it.

Good luck wildcat and glad to hear you are motivated to play again!

Posted by reddyred on 9/4/2013 12:47:00 PM (view original):
The honest truth here: It doesn't get any easier just because you arrive in a big 6 conference. I think this is a common misconception by coaches who are thirsty for a Big 6 team. The reality is the game gets harder (I think this is why some coaches prefer D2 and D3). Sure you can get better recruits but the competition is ruthless and once you actually start playing conference games - the **** really hits the fan. I doubt any top big 6 coaches are afraid of competition - in fact I think they relish it.

Good luck wildcat and glad to hear you are motivated to play again!

Thanks! I'm still sort of "hanging by a thread" motivation-wise, though. It's super discouraging that the jobs logic chose to leave both schools sim-coached (after multiple years of that state of affairs) instead of letting me have a chance at it. Something doesn't feel right about that. I'm going to give it 1-2 more seasons at the most, and then if I'm still stuck at the low-major level, I'm probably out.

Stick around until you get a big 6 job. I had the same feeling at Davidson and when I took over Louisville it really got me back into it. 

Posted by gvsujulius on 9/4/2013 3:21:00 PM (view original):
Stick around until you get a big 6 job. I had the same feeling at Davidson and when I took over Louisville it really got me back into it. 

That's what I'm hoping happens. I swear, though, the next time I get into the NT, if it won't let me land a low-level Big 6 job at THAT point? I do think I'll just put the rest of my seasons on auto-pilot and head on down the road.

Taking a lower team in a Big 6 is brutal (in my experience).

I just couldn't get any traction with Penn State whatsoever.  It goes much deeper than knowing how to recruit and develop players.

I felt like I was missing out on some type of a spreadsheet that allowed the other guys to know exactly how a game was going to unfold.  I'll never get to that level........so I think I'm not cut out for BCS.  Lower Level D1 jobs are fun if you find the right group of coaches.

Posted by wildcat98 on 9/4/2013 3:23:00 PM (view original):

Posted by gvsujulius on 9/4/2013 3:21:00 PM (view original):
Stick around until you get a big 6 job. I had the same feeling at Davidson and when I took over Louisville it really got me back into it. 

That's what I'm hoping happens. I swear, though, the next time I get into the NT, if it won't let me land a low-level Big 6 job at THAT point? I do think I'll just put the rest of my seasons on auto-pilot and head on down the road.

If at some point you do truly decide to hang it up you can request a refund of unused seasons (at a rate favorable to WiS) instead of just letting them burn if you are so inclined.