Running 2010-11 BKC thread

I won't dispute a word of your breakdown regarding Lee Fowler as you were part of the reporting bunch (won't go for the easy pack reference here), but nothing Debbie Yow can do will keep the Wolfpack Club, Wendell Murphy and the like from swinging for the fences with the names they'll kick around.

Sure, Fowler was desperate. But fact was that John Calipari leveraged the events to get just about everything Memphis could muster, and Rick Barnes did the same in Austin. Steve Lavin had also said "no" as he wasn't ready to leave the cozy gig in Bristol at the time. Fowler was out of choices, and you know as well as I do how poorly Herb Sendek was treated by the boosters and fanbase. You think coaches didn't take notes and know that it was going to take a seriously inflated offer to take that gig with two schools nearby continuing to collect national titles?

 

I'm not saying the new administration won't swing for the fences, you got to at least make the calls. It just has to be done more discreetly than it was last time. It's a tough situation for Yow and Co. Not many coaches want to come to N.C. State because of the perception nothing they do will ever be good enough for the fans and boosters. Those fans think that the school's tradition, facilities, etc. ought to be enough to land anybody they want. In reality, guys such as Mark Turgeon -- who was at Wichita State at the time and would have been a good choice -- were saying they weren't interested before State could even make its pitch.

 

How 'bout them (K-State) Wildcats, eh?!?!?

I don't think I've ever been as disappointed in a team as I was K-State a month ago, or as shocked at a team's turnaround as I am today, with wins in six straight, three of the last four against ranked teams.

 

Not just ranked teams, but both Kansas and Texas. They could be dangerous next, er, this month (depending on what time zone you sit in as you read this).

 

Is that the collapse warning siren I hear in Austin?

 

The whole bracket is going to be ridiculous to figure out. Anybody can beat anybody. K-State wins in Austin on Senior Night, and on and on it goes. And my time zone officially sticks me in March Madness.

 

There are grumblings about Kennedy at Ole Miss, but he's probably safe for the time being. The more interesting question lies down the road at Starkvegas. The Bullpup fans I know are hotly divided over Stansbury. They either love him or they hate him, and this team he has this year is winning him NO friends. They are the most maddeningly inconsistent team I can think of in any league. This is a team that's good enough to beat Tennessee on the road and bad enough to lose to LSU at home, all in the same week.

 

We are about two weeks (minus some change) away from selection Sunday and here is my question - can anyone remember a field this bad in terms of power conference teams?

I mean, it is entirely possible that the ACC, Big Ten and Pac 10 will be two-bid leagues (not likely because of a few of them will obviously get in as rightly or wrongly the committee will reward them for being in power conferences) and there isn't a single team right now you can say without a doubt will be in the Final Four.

And you could have a situation where a team like Kentucky is an 8 or 9 seed and have the real possibility that they knock off a No. 1 in round two.

What the hell is going on?

 

Wasn't Elgin Bailey a team captain or something like that? When you side with the star over your captain, I do think it answers a lot of questions about why you are dysfunctional.

 

Zag, I think early entries level the playing field a bit. Power conference programs tend to lose kids and mid-majors tend to have more four-year lettermen and, as a result, they function better as teams. That being said, I still count only five mid-majors (BYU, SDSU, Xavier, Utah State and George Mason in one poll) in the top 25 rankings. It's still dominated by power conferences. It's just disproportionately weighed toward the Big East while the SEC is better than last year and the Big 12 seems pretty normal. Balance that with the ACC, Pac-10 and Big 10 being down, or top-heavy, and it all evens out in the wash.

 

Big Ten: Purdue, Wisconsin and Ohio State are mortal locks, and either Illinois or Michigan will get in. Possibly both. Or maybe Michigan State if they'd get their shit together. Hey, Kansas State did it!

ACC: Duke and UNC for sure, Florida State in all likelihood, Virginia Tech if they don't shit themselves in their final two regular season games and ACC tourney opener. Maaaaaybe Clemson.

Pac 10: Well, at least this year they have two solid bids, as opposed to last year where they were looking like a one-bid conference until the last two weeks.

Either the Big East is going to have 3/4 of the Final Four like they did in 1985 or they'll all be dead by the Elite Eight.

 

That's a big problem. NCSU sorts still think it's 1974 and 1983. NCSU sorts, while it's nice to swing for the fences, aren't being realistic. NCSU sorts are more worried about what's going on in Chapel Hill and Durham and not paying attention to its side of the fence. And the one coach who worried about his program and didn't paralyze himself worrying about the other Triangle programs was, in essence, chased off.

And yes, Mark Turgeon would have been a nice choice.

One would think that the last coaching search - the one in which Sidney Lowe was a fallback after failing on its other targets - would have taught the overzealous sorts in Raleigh a lesson. Why do I get the impression that those same sorts haven't learned a thing?