Alright, I cheated and copied most of the article.
This is from The Athletic. (And they didn't even consider Baseball !)
With Full Apologies!
Go to the site for the Full Article!
By The Athletic Staff 3h ago 16
Our challenge to five national college writers: You are the newly-hired athletic director of Big State U, and you have your pick of coaches to hire in the three major sports on campus (football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball, in alphabetical order). Only one thing: You will hire from an existing university, en masse.
They were also told to hire for the next five years, prioritizing future prospects over past results, and that what they would value (higher chances of national championships in one sport versus multiple high-level programs) was up to them — but all national championships banners come in the same size.
And then just for fun, we asked them to do it again, leading Nicole Auerbach, Matt Fortuna, Brian Hamilton, Chantel Jennings and Dana O’Neil to highlight the combined coaching power of 10 schools. Editors Hugh Kellenberger and Hannah Withiam then handed down judgements on how they did. (Go to The Athletics site for the conclusions)
(Order was determined randomly)
1. Matt Fortuna: Ohio State (Ryan Day, Kevin McGuff, Chris Holtmann)
You want steady and balanced? Check. You want national championships? Check. Start with football, where Ryan Day lords over a program that is one of maybe five in the country that has a legitimate chance at winning a national championship every year. The 41-year-old isn’t going anywhere unless it’s to the NFL. Ditto for basketball, where the men’s (No. 4) and women’s (No. 12) teams make up one of only two duos in the sport to both be ranked so highly. Chris Holtmann’s (49 years old) squad has eight Quad 1 victories and is threatening to snatch a No. 1 seed. Kevin McGuff’s (51) team has used this year’s tournament ban as motivation, posting a 12-2 mark so far. Both teams are young enough and have shown enough of a track record to ensure they will be regular conference and national title contenders for years to come.
2. Chantel Jennings: Alabama (Nick Saban, Kristy Curry, Nate Oats)
(Editor’s note: Chantel wanted it to be noted that she makes this choice with “a pained look on her face considering she spent two years writing a weekly football column about the West Coast being the best coast.”)
Saban gon’ Saban. The Tide just signed the No. 1 class in the country (they have, from quick glance at their roster, approximately one million players who ranked in the top 100 nationally). With three of the last six national titles, I feel pretty confident those titles will continue to roll in; and if memory serves correctly, Day hasn’t won a national title with the Buckeyes, right, Fortuna? The women’s basketball team is playing in a much-improved SEC and showing results: Kristy Curry’s group already has one win over a top-15 opponent this season and they came really close to beating No. 25 Georgia this past week, falling in OT. South Carolina might own the conference, but the Tide are making their way toward that top tier and could get there in the next five years. And on the men’s side, in just his second season, Nate Oats has had Alabama in the top 10 and racing toward the program’s first conference title since 2002. Give me established dominance from a football team and two programs in the rise in college hoops, and I’m a happy AD.
Sabrina Ionescu has moved on to the WNBA, but Kelly Graves is still winning big. (Chris Pietsch / USA Today)
3. Brian Hamilton: Oregon (Mario Cristobal, Kelly Graves, Dana Altman)
There are only three correct selections to make at the top of this exercise, and the first two are gone. And that makes it very easy on me to go with the Ducks. The football program is the best long-term bet in the Pac-12, having had, like, two bad seasons since the mid-aughts and with master recruiter Cristobal stabilizing things to the point that Oregon won 12 games and reached the Rose Bowl in 2019. I like Oregon’s chances to challenge for College Football Playoff invites more than just about any other Pac-12 program, and that’s before we get to the other two sports in this discussion. In eight of the last nine years, Dana Altman’s men’s hoops program has finished in the top 3 of the league with one trip to the Elite Eight and one to the Final Four. This was a likely No. 4 seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament, pre-cancellation, and even if the NET rating isn’t impressive right now, there’s a five-star center and a four-star forward in the incoming recruiting class. Meanwhile, Kelly Graves’ women’s team is 109-15 in the last four seasons. I get that a generational superstar had something to do with that, and that the Pac-12 is a challenging league. My retort: Oregon signed the No. 1 class in the 2020 cycle and has another top 30 guard arriving for 2021.
4. Nicole Auerbach: Michigan (Jim Harbaugh, Kim Barnes Arico, Juwan Howard)
I wasn’t thrilled when I drew the fourth pick in this draft, but I did not realize how much my colleagues were setting me up — err, taunting me — to make a homer pick. And I am happy to oblige. I’m taking Michigan, my alma mater. It’s not because I love Ann Arbor (which I do, and I presume as the new athletic director, I get to live there again), but because I believe in the balance in this athletic department. Sure, Jim Harbaugh hasn’t taken the Wolverines to a Big Ten title game or College Football Playoff appearance yet. But in non-pandemic seasons he’s good for an average of nine wins per year, a decent ranking and a good bowl game. One of these years, he’ll have to break through against Ohio State … right? Statistically, the Buckeyes aren’t likely to win every game in this rivalry forever, so at some point this program will compete for league titles and CFP berths again.
Meanwhile, both basketball programs are among the best in the country. Right now, at the midseason point of this season, the men’s and women’s teams have combined for two total losses. Both are ranked in the top 12 of the AP poll, both are Big Ten contenders and both appear poised to make deep runs in their respective NCAA tournaments. And I don’t think that’s going to change anytime in the near future with the way Juwan Howard is recruiting (hello, No. 1 class for 2021) and building on what John Beilein left. Kim Barnes Arico is already the winningest coach in program history and her Michigan teams have never won fewer than 20 games in a season. She’s a stud, too. I’d also like to give a special shoutout to The Michigan Daily’s touch football team, because they’re on a 15-year winning streak over the State News, the Michigan State student newspaper, and this also speaks to athletic excellence in Ann Arbor.
Louisville football struggled in 2020, but optimism remains high that Scott Satterfield can turn it around. (Winslow Townson / USA Today)
5. Dana O’Neil: Texas A&M (Jimbo Fisher, Gary Blair, Buzz Williams)
6. Dana: Louisville (Scott Satterfield, Jeff Walz, Chris Mack)
In football, the Aggies reaffirmed their positioning behind Alabama with another great recruiting haul just this month, and the women’s hoops team hasn’t missed the NCAA Tournament since 2005. Granted Gary Blair is no spring chicken (he’s 75), but I’ll take my bets on him hanging around for a bit and setting up a program that can succeed without him. The wild card, really, is the men’s basketball team, but I’m banking on Buzz Williams’ history of turning teams from nothing into something (see: Virginia Tech), not to mention his deep Texas roots to find players.
As for Louisville: I believe the women’s basketball team needs no explanation or defending. Slam dunk. And Chris Mack already has proven his ability to keep the Cards winning on the men’s side. There’s a little uncertainty, what with the gigantic storm cloud of the NCAA investigation hanging over the program’s head, but by the time the IARP rules on that, we will all be collecting mail from AARP. The football team is the trickiest part. The coaching staff has been poached plenty already, and who knows how long Scott Satterfield actually sticks around, but I’m banking on the general suckitude of ACC football* (*not including Clemson) to give me enough cushion that the football team will succeed enough and that the other two can carry most of the water.
7. Nicole: Oklahoma (Lincoln Riley, Sherri Coale, Lon Kruger)
With my second and final pick, I’ll take Oklahoma. Much like Fortuna is banking on one of the best young coaches in college football (and an elite recruiting operation) to contend for league championships and national titles on a yearly basis, I’m putting my faith in Lincoln Riley. I’d also like extra points for Heisman Trophy winners, in addition to Big 12 titles and CFP berths, please. Lon Kruger is just a tad older than Riley, but he’s also one of the best coaches in his sport. I love the way his teams play, love the way he teaches the sport and love that he comes with 669 career wins and a recent trip to the Final Four. Add in longtime women’s basketball coach and HOFer Sherri Coale, and I’ve got a trio I feel great about. I’d also like to apologize to Joe Castiglione for knocking him out of the AD chair.
This is from The Athletic. (And they didn't even consider Baseball !)
With Full Apologies!
Go to the site for the Full Article!
By The Athletic Staff 3h ago 16
Our challenge to five national college writers: You are the newly-hired athletic director of Big State U, and you have your pick of coaches to hire in the three major sports on campus (football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball, in alphabetical order). Only one thing: You will hire from an existing university, en masse.
They were also told to hire for the next five years, prioritizing future prospects over past results, and that what they would value (higher chances of national championships in one sport versus multiple high-level programs) was up to them — but all national championships banners come in the same size.
And then just for fun, we asked them to do it again, leading Nicole Auerbach, Matt Fortuna, Brian Hamilton, Chantel Jennings and Dana O’Neil to highlight the combined coaching power of 10 schools. Editors Hugh Kellenberger and Hannah Withiam then handed down judgements on how they did. (Go to The Athletics site for the conclusions)
(Order was determined randomly)
1. Matt Fortuna: Ohio State (Ryan Day, Kevin McGuff, Chris Holtmann)
You want steady and balanced? Check. You want national championships? Check. Start with football, where Ryan Day lords over a program that is one of maybe five in the country that has a legitimate chance at winning a national championship every year. The 41-year-old isn’t going anywhere unless it’s to the NFL. Ditto for basketball, where the men’s (No. 4) and women’s (No. 12) teams make up one of only two duos in the sport to both be ranked so highly. Chris Holtmann’s (49 years old) squad has eight Quad 1 victories and is threatening to snatch a No. 1 seed. Kevin McGuff’s (51) team has used this year’s tournament ban as motivation, posting a 12-2 mark so far. Both teams are young enough and have shown enough of a track record to ensure they will be regular conference and national title contenders for years to come.
2. Chantel Jennings: Alabama (Nick Saban, Kristy Curry, Nate Oats)
(Editor’s note: Chantel wanted it to be noted that she makes this choice with “a pained look on her face considering she spent two years writing a weekly football column about the West Coast being the best coast.”)
Saban gon’ Saban. The Tide just signed the No. 1 class in the country (they have, from quick glance at their roster, approximately one million players who ranked in the top 100 nationally). With three of the last six national titles, I feel pretty confident those titles will continue to roll in; and if memory serves correctly, Day hasn’t won a national title with the Buckeyes, right, Fortuna? The women’s basketball team is playing in a much-improved SEC and showing results: Kristy Curry’s group already has one win over a top-15 opponent this season and they came really close to beating No. 25 Georgia this past week, falling in OT. South Carolina might own the conference, but the Tide are making their way toward that top tier and could get there in the next five years. And on the men’s side, in just his second season, Nate Oats has had Alabama in the top 10 and racing toward the program’s first conference title since 2002. Give me established dominance from a football team and two programs in the rise in college hoops, and I’m a happy AD.
Sabrina Ionescu has moved on to the WNBA, but Kelly Graves is still winning big. (Chris Pietsch / USA Today)
3. Brian Hamilton: Oregon (Mario Cristobal, Kelly Graves, Dana Altman)
There are only three correct selections to make at the top of this exercise, and the first two are gone. And that makes it very easy on me to go with the Ducks. The football program is the best long-term bet in the Pac-12, having had, like, two bad seasons since the mid-aughts and with master recruiter Cristobal stabilizing things to the point that Oregon won 12 games and reached the Rose Bowl in 2019. I like Oregon’s chances to challenge for College Football Playoff invites more than just about any other Pac-12 program, and that’s before we get to the other two sports in this discussion. In eight of the last nine years, Dana Altman’s men’s hoops program has finished in the top 3 of the league with one trip to the Elite Eight and one to the Final Four. This was a likely No. 4 seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament, pre-cancellation, and even if the NET rating isn’t impressive right now, there’s a five-star center and a four-star forward in the incoming recruiting class. Meanwhile, Kelly Graves’ women’s team is 109-15 in the last four seasons. I get that a generational superstar had something to do with that, and that the Pac-12 is a challenging league. My retort: Oregon signed the No. 1 class in the 2020 cycle and has another top 30 guard arriving for 2021.
4. Nicole Auerbach: Michigan (Jim Harbaugh, Kim Barnes Arico, Juwan Howard)
I wasn’t thrilled when I drew the fourth pick in this draft, but I did not realize how much my colleagues were setting me up — err, taunting me — to make a homer pick. And I am happy to oblige. I’m taking Michigan, my alma mater. It’s not because I love Ann Arbor (which I do, and I presume as the new athletic director, I get to live there again), but because I believe in the balance in this athletic department. Sure, Jim Harbaugh hasn’t taken the Wolverines to a Big Ten title game or College Football Playoff appearance yet. But in non-pandemic seasons he’s good for an average of nine wins per year, a decent ranking and a good bowl game. One of these years, he’ll have to break through against Ohio State … right? Statistically, the Buckeyes aren’t likely to win every game in this rivalry forever, so at some point this program will compete for league titles and CFP berths again.
Meanwhile, both basketball programs are among the best in the country. Right now, at the midseason point of this season, the men’s and women’s teams have combined for two total losses. Both are ranked in the top 12 of the AP poll, both are Big Ten contenders and both appear poised to make deep runs in their respective NCAA tournaments. And I don’t think that’s going to change anytime in the near future with the way Juwan Howard is recruiting (hello, No. 1 class for 2021) and building on what John Beilein left. Kim Barnes Arico is already the winningest coach in program history and her Michigan teams have never won fewer than 20 games in a season. She’s a stud, too. I’d also like to give a special shoutout to The Michigan Daily’s touch football team, because they’re on a 15-year winning streak over the State News, the Michigan State student newspaper, and this also speaks to athletic excellence in Ann Arbor.
Louisville football struggled in 2020, but optimism remains high that Scott Satterfield can turn it around. (Winslow Townson / USA Today)
5. Dana O’Neil: Texas A&M (Jimbo Fisher, Gary Blair, Buzz Williams)
6. Dana: Louisville (Scott Satterfield, Jeff Walz, Chris Mack)
In football, the Aggies reaffirmed their positioning behind Alabama with another great recruiting haul just this month, and the women’s hoops team hasn’t missed the NCAA Tournament since 2005. Granted Gary Blair is no spring chicken (he’s 75), but I’ll take my bets on him hanging around for a bit and setting up a program that can succeed without him. The wild card, really, is the men’s basketball team, but I’m banking on Buzz Williams’ history of turning teams from nothing into something (see: Virginia Tech), not to mention his deep Texas roots to find players.
As for Louisville: I believe the women’s basketball team needs no explanation or defending. Slam dunk. And Chris Mack already has proven his ability to keep the Cards winning on the men’s side. There’s a little uncertainty, what with the gigantic storm cloud of the NCAA investigation hanging over the program’s head, but by the time the IARP rules on that, we will all be collecting mail from AARP. The football team is the trickiest part. The coaching staff has been poached plenty already, and who knows how long Scott Satterfield actually sticks around, but I’m banking on the general suckitude of ACC football* (*not including Clemson) to give me enough cushion that the football team will succeed enough and that the other two can carry most of the water.
7. Nicole: Oklahoma (Lincoln Riley, Sherri Coale, Lon Kruger)
With my second and final pick, I’ll take Oklahoma. Much like Fortuna is banking on one of the best young coaches in college football (and an elite recruiting operation) to contend for league championships and national titles on a yearly basis, I’m putting my faith in Lincoln Riley. I’d also like extra points for Heisman Trophy winners, in addition to Big 12 titles and CFP berths, please. Lon Kruger is just a tad older than Riley, but he’s also one of the best coaches in his sport. I love the way his teams play, love the way he teaches the sport and love that he comes with 669 career wins and a recent trip to the Final Four. Add in longtime women’s basketball coach and HOFer Sherri Coale, and I’ve got a trio I feel great about. I’d also like to apologize to Joe Castiglione for knocking him out of the AD chair.
