Which ones of the big money schools has the toughest jobs? That would be difficult to say without being there, but we can speculate, just for fun.
Put Washington State near the top of the list. Their location in eastern Washington and the lack of much basketball tradition make this a tough sell.
The ACC is basketball country, so it might be said that any job there is a good job. However, I will put Wake Forest into the basket if for no other reason because of having to compete head-to-head both for fans and players with Duke and North Carolina. And, for all their immersion in basketball, Wake has been to only one Final Four, way back in 1962.
Let's list TCU in the Big 12. Jamie Dixon is off to a good start there, but this is, after all, the state of Texas, where basketball is an afterthought when they get through with football recruiting. And TCU has been to one Elite Eight only once, in 1968.
Picking a school from the Big Ten is tough, but let's go with Rutgers. They are in the heavily-populated eastern seaboard where there is huge entertainment clutter. They have little historic success (or even interest) in basketball, having been past the Sweet Sixteen only once, in 1976, when they went to the Final Four.
Money generally is not a problem in the SEC, but lacking a fervent fan base definitely is. I have lived in Mississippi, and I can tell you that basketball there does not even make it to the level of afterthought. In it long history, Ole Miss has made it past the first round of the Dance only three times, so we will give them the nod here.
No comments:
Post a Comment