Posted by alblack56 on 5/14/2011 7:06:00 AM (view original):

Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne's list of basketball coaching candidates appears to be down to two — Murray State's Billy Kennedy and Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson — after former Rockets coach and current ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy apparently said no thanks on Friday.

Kennedy and Jacobson are expected to interview soon with Byrne, who might still expand his wish list, an insider said. North Texas coach Johnny Jones is still in the mix, a person familiar with the situation said, but is considered a long shot compared with Kennedy and Jacobson.

Kennedy, a former A&M assistant in the early 1990s, is said to be extremely interested in the gig, according to an A&M insider. Jacobson, 40, has spent his entire coaching career up north. He led the Panthers to the Sweet 16 in 2010 after they toppled top-ranked Kansas in the second round. That same season, Kennedy, 47, led the Racers to the second round, where they narrowly lost to eventual runner-up Butler.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/college_sports/aggies/article/A-M-s-coaching-wish-list-shortens-1379388.php#ixzz1MK8Z2Nk2

Posted by alblack56 on 5/14/2011 9:26:00 AM (view original):
Not a coaching change, but a conference change:

Belmont University, a steady presence in the NCAA basketball tourney, is leaving the Atlantic Sun Conference and joining the Ohio Valley Conference effective in the 2012-2013.

The Ohio Valley is usually won by Murray St. or Austin Peay but, this season, Morehead St. defeated Louisville in the NCAA. 

 In 2010, Murray St. defeated Vanderbilt but lost to Butler 54-52 in the 2nd round.  .

Belmont has been in the NCAA basketball tournament four times in the last five years, losing in the first round each time. This year the Bruins finished 30-5 overall and lost to Wisconsin as a 13th seed. They nearly upset Duke in 2008, losing 71-70.

Basketball coach Rick Byrd said the move could improve Belmont's chances in future NCAA tourneys. OVC teams have won three straight first-round tourney games, which he said helps the reputation of the league.

Belmont officials said the Nashville school is joining the OVC by invitation and will save travel expenses in the process. Seven OVC schools are in Tennessee or Kentucky. Belmont will now have in-state foes with Tenn-Martin, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee St.  and Austin Peay. The A-Sun conference has teams as far away as Florida and South Carolina.

Hoping for an invitation to either the Ohio Valley or Horizon (Conference (home of Butler)  is Northern Kentucky Univ.  They're allowed to move to D1 on August 1st, but only if they have an invitation from an existing D1 conference.  They've been a top DII school for several years, twice making the  men's championship game and winning two women's titles.  They have a new 10,000 seat arena, the Bank of Kentucky Center.  Just 10 miles from Cincinnati, NKU would add a larger media market to either conference.

Posted by garger on 5/15/2011 7:11:00 PM (view original):
Horizon needs an upgrade. Hope they pick up NKy.

Posted by garger on 5/16/2011 1:02:00 AM (view original):
Have you seen the Horizon lately? Snow White and the seven dwarfs. NKy has a championship pedigree and seems to be set for bigger things. they would up the competition level straight away.

Posted by garger on 5/16/2011 1:02:00 AM (view original):
Have you seen the Horizon lately? Snow White and the seven dwarfs. NKy has a championship pedigree and seems to be set for bigger things. they would up the competition level straight away.

Posted by alblack56 on 5/16/2011 10:51:00 AM (view original):

Posted by garger on 5/16/2011 1:02:00 AM (view original):
Have you seen the Horizon lately? Snow White and the seven dwarfs. NKy has a championship pedigree and seems to be set for bigger things. they would up the competition level straight away.

Northern Kentucky wouldnt' have much of an impact initially. The NCAA requires you to wait 5 years before being eligible for the NCAA tournament, although you can compete in your conference.

When North Dakota St. joined the Summit League, they asked their 5 freshmen to redshirt. In doing so, they were eligible to play in that 5th season.  No. Dakota St. won the Summit Conference and advanced to the NT, where they lost to Kansas 84-74.

Posted by alblack56 on 5/16/2011 10:51:00 AM (view original):

Posted by garger on 5/16/2011 1:02:00 AM (view original):
Have you seen the Horizon lately? Snow White and the seven dwarfs. NKy has a championship pedigree and seems to be set for bigger things. they would up the competition level straight away.

Northern Kentucky wouldnt' have much of an impact initially. The NCAA requires you to wait 5 years before being eligible for the NCAA tournament, although you can compete in your conference.

When North Dakota St. joined the Summit League, they asked their 5 freshmen to redshirt. In doing so, they were eligible to play in that 5th season.  No. Dakota St. won the Summit Conference and advanced to the NT, where they lost to Kansas 84-74.

Posted by jkline on 5/16/2011 3:58:00 PM (view original):

Posted by alblack56 on 5/16/2011 10:51:00 AM (view original):

Posted by garger on 5/16/2011 1:02:00 AM (view original):
Have you seen the Horizon lately? Snow White and the seven dwarfs. NKy has a championship pedigree and seems to be set for bigger things. they would up the competition level straight away.

Northern Kentucky wouldnt' have much of an impact initially. The NCAA requires you to wait 5 years before being eligible for the NCAA tournament, although you can compete in your conference.

When North Dakota St. joined the Summit League, they asked their 5 freshmen to redshirt. In doing so, they were eligible to play in that 5th season.  No. Dakota St. won the Summit Conference and advanced to the NT, where they lost to Kansas 84-74.

Yes, but the Summit is not nearly as good as the Horizon. Northern Kentucky would have a better chance to compete sooner if it joined the Summit than if it joined the Horizon.  I would veture that if you took any of the top 4 teams in the Horizon other than Butler, in any given year, that team would win the Summit. The talent difference is appreciable.  North Dakota State, as good as they were that one season, did not have the talent to win the Horizon or even finish in the top 3.  The Horizon and the MVC are like the feeder conferences for the Big 10 and Big 12. Players who are not quite talented enough (and a few that are) for the Big 10 and Big 12 end up in the Horizon and the MVC. The Summit gets what is left over after that, more or less. 

To draw another parallel, UC Davis has a very good overall athletics program.  They joined the Big West, which is comparable to the Summit, having better facilities and a bigger budget than most of the Big West schools.  UC Davis has done reasonably well, but hasn't rocked the world of the Big West.  Given time, they could rise to the top, but it's been almost 10 years and it hasn't happened yet.  So, it would be silly to think that UC Davis could have gone into the WCC and somehow improved that situation.   The Horizon is to the Summit as the WCC is to the Big West.

NDSU could easily have finished in the top three in the Horizon in 2009.  And yes, I'm extremely familiar with both NDSU and the Horizon.  Butler was the talented but young.  UWGB was solid but not as good as NDSU.  Cleveland State had some high-end talent, but weren't as deep as NDSU.  I actually think they beat UWM in bracketbusters that year.

Although I agree that the Horizon is significantly better in any given year. 

Posted by dal8847 on 5/16/2011 6:52:00 PM (view original):
Don't forget about Oakland (MI) either.  They have been much better than their counterparts from 30 miles south in Detroit.