It's that time of year: College coach carousel!

I don't think Xavier is considered a mid-major.

 

But are they truly considered major, or are they in that murky in-between zone? Are they closer to Cincinnati or Dayton?

 

That's a good question because I think Dayton and Xavier both have too much history to be a mid-major. They're not just programs that got good for a couple years. I'm not sure they're on the level of Cincy though.

 

Major programs in mid-major conferences:
Xavier
Dayton
Temple
Gonzaga
Memphis
BYU
Utah
UNLV
New Mexico (because of tradition, expectations, etc.)
I'd lump Butler in there too ...

And Meat, I threw the MAC into the low-major pile because it's been close to a decade since that league has gone two-bid, and just about as long since anyone has made any serious tournament noise (Ohio's rout of Georgetown notwithstanding).

 

I'd put UAB in there and probably take out Butler.

 

I can see that, but they still feel like they have more in common with the CAA or Horizon than the MEAC or Big West. Strictly a Potter Stewart judgment on my part.

Maybe a five-tier system would be more precise. Here's how they'd look as of now:

MAJOR
BCS conferences

UPPER-MID
Atlantic 10
Conference USA
Mountain West

MID
CAA
SoCon
MVC
WAC
WCC
Horizon

LOW-MID
MAC
Sun Belt
Ivy
MAAC

LOW
Everyone else

After the realignments, I would bump the West Coast to upper-mid and drop the WAC to low-mod. Would probably keep the MWC at upper-mid, but closer to straight mid than major.

My qualification for low-mid, BTW, is that most years they should produce a team capable of a moderate upset.

 

Took a recent trip to Tampa/St. Pete metro. There are billboards advertising that kids get in the arena free. Think that exists in too many other Big East/ACC markets? Threw me for a serious, serious loop.

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If anyone thinks Tom Crean gets a 4-5-year pass for the upcoming class, you're sadly mistaken. Another year, maybe two, and that's it. If all it took was an upcoming recruiting class, few coaches would get shown the door. Doubtful that will save Sidney Lowe.

Tarheel316, Jeff Bzdelik was hired away from Boulder to Winston-Salem because of his rebuilding job in Colorado Springs and the decent job he did with the Denver Nuggets, combined with being a friend of Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman.

I used to think Wellman did the best job of any AD in North Carolina. But this move with the men's basketball program might not help that label. Thing is, word has it that Dino Gaudio's last couple of teams, in addition to faltering down the stretch, had their own little agendas and they were affecting the program on and off the court.

 

Count me among those who thought Bzdelik was a shitty hire by Wake.

Colorado certainly doesn't miss him.

 

Bzedlik and Wake's AD has a history: http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/76523/

That's why he's in Winston-Salem.

Ricardo Patton, goodbye (says Northern Illinois not too long ago), and Keno Davis, get ready to say bye-bye to, per the Providence Journal.

 

I'd probably put Creighton in there too...

 

You guys are thinking abotu this too much. Success doesn't determine high/mid-majors. Resources do.

Kyle Whelliston of midmajority.com defines it this way:
http://www.midmajority.com/redline

Teams with athletic budgets above $20 million AND a men's hoops budget over $2 million are majors. Those under are mid-majors. If it's one or the other, doesn't matter. Conference USA, as a major football conference, has a high athletic budget but not a high hoops budget.

A couple of the A-10 schools and MVC schools have high hoops budgets, but not overall resources.

 

Looks like Providence is going to can Keno and hockey coach Tim Army, the second of three Army generations to play for the Friars.