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Wojcik is on the clock...


Old Titan

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Then why did you cite it as a source as to why Wojcik would bolt CUSA?  Contradiction much?

I made no such assertion - I brought up the bracketology sites as support of C-USA being a one-bid league, at least for this season.  The bracketology sites had nothing to do with Wojcik's reasons for leaving - but C-USA being a one-bid league would have EVERYTHING to do with Wojcik eventually leaving, assuming Memphis keeps getting that one spot.

Also, I don't think Self was ever anywhere near getting a million a year from TU.  The 11th-hour effort to keep him, if I'm not mistaken, involved a grass-roots campaign to recruit 450 TU boosters contributing $1000 each to give him a $450,000 one-time bonus.  It would not have been annual, it would not have been guaranteed, and it never truly got off the ground - he was gone to Illinois before even a fraction of the goal was ever raised or pledged.

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While I respect your tenaciousness, I must disagree on several points:  TU is no Gonzaga, C-USA is no longer a multi-bid league, and Wojcik is no Dana Altman.  He will bolt within two more seasons to a BCS-league school, and no one but TU fans will fault him when he does.

It would be nice if you could make more than the conclusory "TU is no Gonzaga" argument, as in provide some sort of fact to support that connclusion.  Both are smaller private schools.  Both have the money to pay their coaches.  Both have good on campus facilities.  Both have a lot of tournament history.  I'll be happy to link the article from ESPN that said "Tulsa was Gonzaga before there was a Gonzaga."  If anything, TU plays in a better conference with better times for viewers to watch games.  Even if your one-bid argument is true (which it ain't), that just means that CUSA is on par with the WCC.  In reality, CUSA has some great coaches (Calipari, Wojcik, Doherty, Eustachy, Davis, Penders) -- in a bad year like last year, we still put several teams in the NIT.

TU's goal needs to be to keep a coach from going to Georgias and Florida States, so that we only lose our coach when Kansas or Kentucky call.  That is do-able.  Tulsa can pay as much and a coach can make as many headlines in CUSA -- look at what Calipari does at Memphis.

In recent years, we've had coaches turn down offers from so-called BCS schools (again, I think the BCS is meaningless in basketball) such as OU (Tubby), Nebraska (Self), Texas A&M (I think) (Self).  The coaches that left for so-so jobs -- Robinson and Peterson -- are no longer employed at either.  If anything, Wojcik sees the writing on the wall that you don't leave for the first school to offer.  If you wait, you'll get a better offer like Self and Tubby did.  Or maybe you stay and build.

It will happen one of these days.  TU couldn't keep Coach K because we'll never win an NC under the current format in football.  It could very well happen in basketball, given the format.  I can find a Bill Self quote on that point.

CUSA had two bids last year, with Houston knocking on the door.  That should happen at a minimum.

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I made no such assertion - I brought up the bracketology sites as support of C-USA being a one-bid league, at least for this season.  The bracketology sites had nothing to do with Wojcik's reasons for leaving - but C-USA being a one-bid league would have EVERYTHING to do with Wojcik eventually leaving, assuming Memphis keeps getting that one spot.

Also, I don't think Self was ever anywhere near getting a million a year from TU.  The 11th-hour effort to keep him, if I'm not mistaken, involved a grass-roots campaign to recruit 450 TU boosters contributing $1000 each to give him a $450,000 one-time bonus.  It would not have been annual, it would not have been guaranteed, and it never truly got off the ground - he was gone to Illinois before even a fraction of the goal was ever raised or pledged.

You don't know what you're talking about.  TU raised Self's salary to around $800K and set up the Final 400 group that would have paid him a few million if he had stayed a couple of years.  He would have received the money in addition to his salary within the following season and then a lump sum at the end of the year. We were working on something similar with Kragthorpe.  The money was most certainly pledged (I was there), but it wasn't paid because he was gone.  Self said that he would have been more upset if he left after receiving the extra money during the first year of his new contract.

You cited Lunardi as a basis for your argument that CUSA was a one-bid league.  I argued that wasn't an accurate indicator and that a lot of basketball remained to be played -- CUSA could very well get multiple bids.  You maintained it was a valid source.  Then you argue that it isn't accurate.  That's a contradiction.

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 Here are some of the sites, in no particular order, that seem to agree C-USA is a one-bid league this season:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

http://bracketology101.blogspot.com/

http://www.bracketography.com/

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/9805295

I'm doubt it's because they have a grudge against C-USA, TU, Houston, UAB, or Southern Methodist.  I assume it's because they just don't think any of them will get in!

Anyway, this argument has grown pretty tedious.  Feel free to add your last word(s), as I feel sure you will want to!

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It's tedious because you're losing... bad.

As I've said, there is still a lot of ball to be played.  A couple of schools could make a strong run in the conference season and get some attention -- look out for Southern Miss, Houston, and UAB.  Some even think TU has an outside shot (Bill Haisten), but I won't make any predictions on that as we're starting three freshmen right now.

The polls are hardly relevant to the discussion of whether we can keep Wojcik.  I identified sevreal factors and you refused to argue all of them except for this one

Even if CUSA is a one bid league this year, that alone doesn't mean that TU can't keep a good basketball coach long term.  It will happen eventually.

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I'm surprised that there is absolutely no mention of Coach Bill Blankenship as a replacement for Coach K.  What's up?

Voice, I don't want to work  :lol:

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This thread is tiresome. I like a good argument, but this one is boring.

Some of you need to get to work. :-D

Voice, I AM working - I interject purchase orders and invoices with the occasional post!  But that last thread was turning into a bit of a chore.  I guess some folks just can't agree to disagree.  We'll just have to wait till the selections come out in March.  Some of those "bracketology" sites are pretty fun - ORU is a #13 in one, playing #4 Oregon in Spokane; another one had #14 ORU playing #3 Air Force - now THAT might be a great game!

BTW, you'll have to let me know sometime what E.K. thought of our efforts at the Vegas Expo...

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Blankenship has ZERO -- I repeat -- ZERO -- chance of replacing Kragthorpe. It's an insult to both TU and Blankenship to even make it an issue.  Blankenship would make a great position coach and I hope we give him that role.  He would be a disaster as a rookie head coach at TU.

Look at this way -- the football coaching job at TU is like driving an antique Alfa Romeo. When you get it to work, people will compliment you and it's quite a sexy car. Has a ton of history. But you can't let your average car enthusiast handle it. What works for a lot of other cars won't work there.

In the same vein, the TU job is a great job, but it takes a special person to make it work. High school coaches just don't have the experience with budgets, program management, and strategy to make it work.

It won't be a high school coach.

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Today our RPI stands at 130; we'll probably see little movement as a result of Mid-Con play.  Can the selection committee justify giving us a 13 seed, or even a 14, given our RPI and record?  I doubt it, unless we do something like run the table in the conference.  On the other hand, they may be willing to fudge a bit in order to get the two Sutton boys together. 

There's a lot of basketball to be played before we see how any of that will work out.  And, of course, it assumes that we win the conference . . .

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I looks like TU just payed Todd Graham $1.1M/yr over eight years to be the next football coach at TU...

If this is true, Old Titan, it looks like TU will spend the money to keep coaches in the future...

However, if a mid-high level Big Ten job opens, Wojcik goes "bye bye"...

TU always needs to keep an "eye out" for the next great young coach...Our history in landing these coaches should always give us an advantage.

CUSA could definitely be a "one-bid" league this year...However, after this year, it more than likely will always be a 2-3 team bid for quite some time.

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I'm shocked by the deal.  The fans and local media overwhelmingly approve.  Hope he brings a good offensive coordinator.  Will be at the press conference ... 2:30 at the Reynolds Center.

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So many reasons... we opened up the wallet for football (he got Kragthorpe's deal)... we took another D-1 head coach...  that he accepted it... how he's handled business thus far.  Crazy, crazy week.  Lost Kragthorpe, got Graham, got engaged (not in that order).

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