Tubby on the Schedule

[Blizzard]

Maybe this is old news ?


Last Friday gave us two sides of Minnesota men's basketball coach Tubby Smith.

First, the measured, analytical Tubby broke down the strengths of North Dakota State, the next day's opponent. A few minutes later, Smith's tone changed considerably as he explained and defended something he's been hammered for — the Gophers' bunny-laden non-conference schedule, which includes the likes of ... North Dakota State.

Only two of the 12 non-Big Ten opponents figured to give the young Gophers a tussle — highly ranked Louisville, and Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Ivy League champion Cornell is the only other NCAA Tournament team from last year on a docket that included Bowling Green, North and South Dakota States, High Point (Smith's alma mater) and Division II Concordia.

The rest here ..


http://www.minnpost.com/patborzi/2008/12/04/5032/u_coaches_know_that_devising_a_college_basketball_ schedule_is_a_thankless_complicated_job

[jamiche]

As someone suggested a while ago, I don't know why they can't schedule home and homes with Marquette, ISU and even UW-Green Bay. I used to hate that we played Nebraska almost every year. Now I would love to have a program of even that caliber on the schedule.

[Boondoggle]

I trust that tubby smith knows what he's doing...case closed.

[tjgopher]

As someone suggested a while ago, I don't know why they can't schedule home and homes with Marquette, ISU and even UW-Green Bay. I used to hate that we played Nebraska almost every year. Now I would love to have a program of even that caliber on the schedule.

Home-and-home with ISU, Marquette, or Nebraska would be fine. No chance we should schedule a home-and-home with UW-Green Bay. They can come here if they want, but we ain't going there. The other aspect of the schedule....Tubby was asked to play as many home games as possible in the next couple of years. Budgets are tight. He's getting paid almost $2 million. To play ISU/Marq/Neb means giving up 1-2 home games. That's giving up almost $1 million.

[GVBadger]

The problem for most schools is that they can only do one or at most two home and homes because they need the home games for revenue. In the case of Minnesota and Marquette, Marquette has a home and home with Wisconsin every year and I am pretty sure they only do one because they don't have football revenue. As a result, Marquette probably has no openings.

The Badgers have two home and homes. They have Marquette every year and one other on a two year basis. It is Texas this year and has been Pitt in the past. It took some time to convince any decent teams to come to Madison because there was no tradition at UW, but that has slowly changed. The Texas game this year will be a big time game.

The Gophers schedule was bad and could be upgraded with some better mid majors, but they face the same problems most teams do when trying to schedule home and home series. There are only so many to go around and some big name teams simply will not go on the road to a place like Minnesota or Wisconsin.

[SelectionSunday]

"He still hopes to arrange a home-and-home with Tulsa, another of his former schools, or someone from the Missouri Valley Conference. The closest MVC schools to Dinkytown are Drake and Northern Iowa, and travel costs are a consideration, Smith said."

This would be progress from Tubby's first two schedules. Tulsa (Conference USA) is traditionally a strong program, and I certainly wouldn't mind getting a team from the Missouri Valley to play us. Drake or Northern Iowa would be fine, Illinois State is another one I wouldn't mind. These would be solid home games, as long as they don't serve as "THE" marquee home game on the schedule.

The marquee home game(s) (besides the alternate-year ACC Challenge game) does not have to be a Duke, a Carolina or a Texas like Tubby intimates in the story. I don't think that's what rational people are expecting. But certainly someone of Tubby's stature should be able to pull off a home-and home vs. a major conference team the nature of a Providence, Baylor, Washington or Ole Miss, etc. Dan Monson was able to pull it off, so can Tubby.

Another nonconference schedule thought. This is just a hunch, but perhaps Tubby will switch up the regional matchups a little bit, replace NDSU and/or South Dakota State with UND and/or South Dakota? Both are D-I newbies this season.

[TruthTeller]

Home-and-home with ISU, Marquette, or Nebraska would be fine. No chance we should schedule a home-and-home with UW-Green Bay. They can come here if they want, but we ain't going there. The other aspect of the schedule....Tubby was asked to play as many home games as possible in the next couple of years. Budgets are tight. He's getting paid almost $2 million. To play ISU/Marq/Neb means giving up 1-2 home games. That's giving up almost $1 million.

So the fans that pay for tickets suffer through an unbelieveably weak non con sched for the program to make $$.

wow.

[MinnMarchDTF]

So the fans that pay for tickets suffer through an unbelieveably weak non con sched for the program to make $$.

wow.

Well I think it's a combo of that, and top teams not wanting to play us. I heard from somewhere that Joe Esposito called a lot of big time opponents to try to get them on the schedule, but none wanted to. Not sure if it's true, but still.

[SelectionSunday]

"I heard from somewhere that Joe Esposito called a lot of big time opponents to try to get them on the schedule, but none wanted to."

There are 73 programs (not even counting the likes of Dayton, Memphis, Gonzaga, Temple, Xavier, etc.) that should be considered "big-time" simply because of the conference they reside in (ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10 & SEC). Take away the other Big 10 schools and the two BCS schools the Gophers are playing (Virginia & Louisville) and that leaves 60 BCS schools at your fingertips to try to strike a home-and-home with.

We couldn't find 1 (out of 60 possible candidates) to agree to a home-and-home with us? Nary a 1 for season-ticket holders who pay among the highest prices in the country? For goodness sakes, I'd even take gosh-awful Oregon State if for no other reason it's a Pac 10 school and even casual fans would recognize the name of the opponent.

I agree that nonconference scheduling is not as easy as it seems, but the inability to find 1 BCS program willing to start a home-and home beginning this season? Come on Joe/Tubby, some of us are naive, but not that naive.

[Monty519]

I'm sure in the future we will have tougher schedules. I'm not sure why everyone is losing it over one weak nonconference schedule slate. Now if this continues year and year even after Tubby gets some of his guys in, I can see the problem. He clearly wants to get some confidence with his young guys, so I can understand what he's doing here. Plus, it's not like we're alone in weak nonconference schedules.

[SelectionSunday]

"I'm not sure why everyone is losing it over one weak nonconference schedule slate."

Did you take a look at last year's nonconference schedule? For the record, I thought last year's weak nonconference schedule was justifiable, this year not so much.

I'm confident Tubby will upgrade the schedule as well -- he already has with the announcement of the Gophers going to Anaheim -- but if by chance we fall short on Selection Sunday this season primarily because of the lack of pop in our non-league schedule, I don't want to hear any whining about it. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but it's a very real possibility if the Gophers don't beat Louisville and then finish in the 9-9 to 11-7 neighborhood in the Big 10.

[Blizzard]

I believe the Gophers are where they should be for non con schedule. The scores might be different if we played within an eight player rotation but so far we haven't blown anyone out nor have we dominated from wire to wire.

[Monty519]

"I'm not sure why everyone is losing it over one weak nonconference schedule slate."

Did you take a look at last year's nonconference schedule? For the record, I thought last year's weak nonconference schedule was justifiable, this year not so much.

I'm confident Tubby will upgrade the schedule as well -- he already has with the announcement of the Gophers going to Anaheim -- but if by chance we fall short on Selection Sunday this season primarily because of the lack of pop in our non-league schedule, I don't want to hear any whining about it. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but it's a very real possibility if the Gophers don't beat Louisville and then finish in the 9-9 to 11-7 neighborhood in the Big 10.

Last year he couldn't do anything about anyway. My only point was, he had 5 guys coming in who had never played Division 1 basketball who he would have to lean on for this team to have the type of success he would like. I think this schedule has allowed them to work their way into the mix, and it's not like we've exactly blown the roof off any of our opponents thus far. And you have guys like Bostick, Sampson, and Joseph who are still working things out.

[SelectionSunday]

Fair enough. We do have a lot of new guys this season. However, don't we also have 7 guys who saw quite a bit of minutes last season? That's a pretty good-sized number of contributing returning players, I think. It's not like we have a roster full of guys (i.e. Indiana) who have never been through the Big 10 wars. We have a nice mix.

I think we'll agree that if the Gophers beat Louisville on the 20th, this schedule in all likelihood becomes a moot point. I hope that's the case.

[Ogee Oglethorpe]

Sure, I'm not a season ticket holder so I don't have that particular gripe.

However, I happen to think this year's NC schedule fits our team. We're relatively young, came into the season without an established team leader or core leaders, and FIVE new players who were all expected to contribute significantly.

I think the progression of the opponent's talent up to the Virginia game and even tomorrow's game has suited our personnel to this point. The Cornell game will be a battle, we'll have a couple more tune up games heading into Louisville in the desert, then a game or two before the BT slate. Should work out great.

Now NEXT year, with the talent and experience coming back and the new talent coming in, YES, no question about it we should have a significantly more difficult NC schedule.

[SelectionSunday]

I respect your opinion, Ogee. It may not come across in this thread, but I am looking forward to the Big 10 schedule with great anticipation. From what I've seen of the rest of the Big 10, 4th place and maybe even third (if Suton never fully recovers) is within reach. Purdue and Wisconsin are the only teams I think for sure will finish ahead of the Gophers. Finish 3rd and no one (myself included) will have to worry about the merits of the non-league schedule. It's not likely, but it is doable.

[coolhandgopher]

Yes, the Gophers are incorporating a lot of new players into their system, but they are not alone in the college basketball world in this regard. Consider some other middle of the pack D-1 programs from major conferences:
Illinois-Coming off a terrible season and lost Shaun Pruitt. Still traveled to Vandy, have upcoming games against Georgia (home) and Missouri (traditional game)

Cal-Coming off a tough season, switch of coaches with Mike Montgomery in his first year. Played in the UNLV holiday tournament against the Running Rebs and Florida State. Has played DePaul, will play Utah and Nevada in their next three games.

Florida State-Long bitten by the NCAA committee imploring them to improve the schedule, the Seminoles headed to UNLV also for the Thanksgiving break where they played Cinncy and Florida St. They have their upcoming traditional came against Florida, plus a home game against Pitt.

Boston College-Never one to shy away from cupcakes, B.C. played against Purdue and UAB in the preseason NIT and also scheduled St. John's and Providence onto their schedules, along with traditional solid mid majors UMass and St. Louis (who are both struggling).

Stanford-Another program that lost a lot and endured a coaching change. Stanford has played Air Force and will play Northwestern and Texas Tech (I'm assuming their game against Colorado was their Big 12 showdown opponent) before conference play begins.

All traditionally solid major conference programs undergoing some sort of transition within their programs, yet they were able to find two or more games outside of the conference requirements (ACC-Big Ten Challenge or Pac 10-Big 12 matchups) to sharpen their schedule. Yes, some of the games were at tournaments or tradition games, but nonetheless they are playing major conference or highly recognizable mid-major programs.

If Marquette, Iowa State, Nebraska aren't available to do a home and home because of in-state rivalries, what about DePaul? Kansas State? Oklahoma State? Surely there are some teams out there that make sense for a home and home, whet the fan's appetite, and improves the SOS. And there will still be plenty of space available for cupcakes.

[TruthTeller]

Sure, I'm not a season ticket holder so I don't have that particular gripe.

However, I happen to think this year's NC schedule fits our team. We're relatively young, came into the season without an established team leader or core leaders, and FIVE new players who were all expected to contribute significantly.

I think the progression of the opponent's talent up to the Virginia game and even tomorrow's game has suited our personnel to this point. The Cornell game will be a battle, we'll have a couple more tune up games heading into Louisville in the desert, then a game or two before the BT slate. Should work out great.

Now NEXT year, with the talent and experience coming back and the new talent coming in, YES, no question about it we should have a significantly more difficult NC schedule.

I dont buy the "fits our team" theory.

They may be young, however they were a Top 15 class, correct? That should certainly call for a bit more in terms of competition.

[Art Vandelay]

It's pretty simple actually. He adjusts the schedule difficulty to keep his streak of 20 win seasons going. As the teams gets better, he'll maybe schedule tougher NC opponents. This year, he figured (not publicly of course) that he could win 8-10 conference games. Simple math tells you that you need 10-11 NC wins so that's why it's cupcake city. The Virginia game was set by the B10/ACC folks and the L'ville game was an invite so Tubby did not schedule one single formidable opponent on his own, with the exception of maybe Cornell, but I'm still convinced they're not better than a NDSU type squad. Speaking of Cornell, today's paper (can't remember if it was Sid or Shooter) said that Wittman won't leave early for the NBA and that he'll graduate in 4 years. I almost spit out my coffee when I read that. He must have the same advisor as Rick Rickert...LOL!!!!

[Plinnius]

Home-and-home with ISU, Marquette, or Nebraska would be fine. No chance we should schedule a home-and-home with UW-Green Bay. They can come here if they want, but we ain't going there. The other aspect of the schedule....Tubby was asked to play as many home games as possible in the next couple of years. Budgets are tight. He's getting paid almost $2 million. To play ISU/Marq/Neb means giving up 1-2 home games. That's giving up almost $1 million.

What about scheduling some neutral court games at NBA arenas? For example, say we played Notre Dame one year at the United Center and another year at Target Center.

[SelectionSunday]

Think I was in the minority, but I didn't mind it when Clem played those "road" games vs. West Virginia (1996-97) & Villanova (1997-98) at the Target Center. Nice little change of pace to see the Gophers play there.

The year after the Final Four was especially nice. Target Center hosted Gophers-Villanova and Maryland-South Carolina as a doubleheader. Given a choice, as a fan I'd rather watch a doubleheader like that at the Target Center than what we had this year for the NABC. Perhaps something like that will return once Tubby has made the Gophers relevant again in the NCAA Tournament?

[shikenjanski]

Agreed on the Target Center. Bring in two good teams for the NABC "Classic" next year. (I use the term "classic" very lightly.) Play the games at the Target Center. People pay one ticket price on a Friday night and they get to see us, a Big East squad, a regional Big 12 opponent, and another decent team duke it out for the chance to play for the NABC crown on Saturday night. Bring in Quick Change for the half time show and you have a money maker on your hands.

[SelectionSunday]

Even if it's not a tournament format, that would be fine as well. Something like the Jimmy V Classic, or the thing the Gophers are doing in Phoenix this year (also ASU-BYU). If it's part of the season-ticket package, I'd much rather pay $100-125 for two games in one night than the $90 we payed for the 6 games of the NABC Classic.

Everyone wins. The athletic budget gets more money for the ticket prices, the city of Mpls gets the parking & concessions (I assume), the fans get to see the Gophers + 3 other major programs & the U still has plenty of home games remaining to schedule a dessert-ful of cupcakes if they so choose.

[From the Barn]

I wrote this in another thread a while ago, but why not resurrect it. The problem the Gophers have now is they aren't good enough to be a good win if a bigger name beats us, but losing to us could still be considered a bad loss, depending on which team were are playing. Hopefully in 2 or 3 year we'll be good enough that everyone will want to play us to have a chance to knock us off.

[GoGoGophers]

It's pretty simple actually. He adjusts the schedule difficulty to keep his streak of 20 win seasons going. As the teams gets better, he'll maybe schedule tougher NC opponents. This year, he figured (not publicly of course) that he could win 8-10 conference games. Simple math tells you that you need 10-11 NC wins so that's why it's cupcake city.

Trolling, trolling, trolling...keep those doggies trolling...

It must be true if if a Badger fan says it! Of course Art has inside info and knows that Tubby is scamming the U and just trying to keep his streak going, as opposed to being concerned with the development of his team.

Any more insight into the state of the programs at the U, Art? What other digs can you get in while masquerading as a Gopher fan. I stll fail to see how it is entertaining to spend the better part of every day trolling a rival team's message board.

[tjgopher]

So the fans that pay for tickets suffer through an unbelieveably weak non con sched for the program to make $$.

wow.

Indeed. It's the cost of paying the current coach almost $2 million/yr and trying to improve the resources necessary to have a winning program. And, even with that, I'm sure Tubby feels like he's got "ground beef" resources after coming from a program that provided "prime rib" resources. Not saying it is right or wrong, just saying it is reality. Running a Big Ten champion caliber team is not cheap:)

[Gopher4Life]

Most of the bigger names being tossed around in this thread would kick our a$$es if we played them tomorrow. Better be careful what you wish for until we enjoy a dominating roster of veterans.

[Friend Of Tubby]

It's pretty simple actually. He adjusts the schedule difficulty to keep his streak of 20 win seasons going. As the teams gets better, he'll maybe schedule tougher NC opponents. This year, he figured (not publicly of course) that he could win 8-10 conference games. Simple math tells you that you need 10-11 NC wins so that's why it's cupcake city. The Virginia game was set by the B10/ACC folks and the L'ville game was an invite so Tubby did not schedule one single formidable opponent on his own, with the exception of maybe Cornell, but I'm still convinced they're not better than a NDSU type squad. Speaking of Cornell, today's paper (can't remember if it was Sid or Shooter) said that Wittman won't leave early for the NBA and that he'll graduate in 4 years. I almost spit out my coffee when I read that. He must have the same advisor as Rick Rickert...LOL!!!!

His UK teams played tough schedules every year but (maybe) 2005. Each of those teams won 22+ games.

His Georgia and Tulsa teams played tough schedules. Those teams won 21+ games in his last 4 years there.

[The Big L]

Most of the bigger names being tossed around in this thread would kick our a$$es if we played them tomorrow. Better be careful what you wish for until we enjoy a dominating roster of veterans.

This is true. Playing the UNC's and Texas's of the world to start our season wouldn't really help us. At least not this season.

What I would like to see is to play a couple teams around our talent level. Southern Illinois is a nearby team that is usually good. Saint Louis is down now, but could be on the rise with Majerus and a new arena. This would be a better game that St. Cloud. Nebraska, Creighton, ect. I would be happy with one Top 10 team for the non-conference schedule (Louisville this year), but I wish there were more teams in that Top 40-65 range.

[TruthTeller]

Indeed. It's the cost of paying the current coach almost $2 million/yr and trying to improve the resources necessary to have a winning program. And, even with that, I'm sure Tubby feels like he's got "ground beef" resources after coming from a program that provided "prime rib" resources. Not saying it is right or wrong, just saying it is reality. Running a Big Ten champion caliber team is not cheap:)

Does Wisconsin have resources that are far superior to MN? If so, what are they?

Frankly, I am tired of paying big $$ for less than less non conf schedule.

[Caravan Shaker]

Does Wisconsin have resources that are far superior to MN? If so, what are they?

Frankly, I am tired of paying big $$ for less than less non conf schedule.


Per ope.ed.gov: MN's basketball revenue was $10,404,302, its football revenue was $17,390,376 and its total revenues were $64,828,596. Wisconsin's basketball revenue was $16,438,045, its football revenue was $37,733,698, and its total revenues were $93,452,334.

Granted, the data reported for MN was for year 06-07 while Wisconsin's was 07-08, but I don't think MN closed the $30 million gap this past year. I don't know about you, but I'd consider Wisconsin's resources to be "far superior" to MN based on these data.

[Jim V2]

Per ope.ed.gov: MN's basketball revenue was $10,404,302, its football revenue was $17,390,376 and its total revenues were $64,828,596. Wisconsin's basketball revenue was $16,438,045, its football revenue was $37,733,698, and its total revenues were $93,452,334.

Granted, the data reported for MN was for year 06-07 while Wisconsin's was 07-08, but I don't think MN closed the $30 million gap this past year. I don't know about you, but I'd consider Wisconsin's resources to be "far superior" to MN based on these data.

I have no facts, but those bball numbers surprise me. We have (I think) the higher ticket price, I have to believe we have just as many home games, and I think we get just as many fans per game. Unless there's a huge difference in student ticket treatment, I don't see how the arithmetic can work that way. (ANd I agree with CS that the one year difference shouldn't affect the analysis much--although that was the last Monson year, and attendance had really plummeted.) So I wonder if this is some type of apples to oranges comparison.

[tjgopher]

Does Wisconsin have resources that are far superior to MN? If so, what are they?

Frankly, I am tired of paying big $$ for less than less non conf schedule.

Well, in case you haven't noticed, Wisconsin played Long Beach State, SIU-Edwardsville, UW-Milwaukee, Idaho State, UW-Green Bay, Coppin State, and Texas at home this year. Texas is the lone marquee matchup. Eventually, that's what our schedule will look like. A bunch of lightweights, one really good home matchup, and one really good road matchup. Next year probably.

And, Tubby Smith is earning about $500,000/yr more than Bo Ryan. Tubby at $1.76. Bo at $1.25.

A sellout at Wisconsin gets them 17,000 people. A sellout at Minnesota gets them about 14,500 people. That means to keep up, Minnesota needs a few more home dates.

And, Wisconsin has a practice facility and Tubby wants one very badly.

And, lastly, according to the linked figures, Wisconsin spent about $5.9 million on men's basketball last year. Minnesota spent about $3.1 million. So, to answer the question, yes, right now Wisconsin has more resources. Minnesota is trying to keep up and generating income with home games that don't require a return road trip is one way to do it.

http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/

[tjgopher]

I have no facts, but those bball numbers surprise me. We have (I think) the higher ticket price, I have to believe we have just as many home games, and I think we get just as many fans per game.

No, the Kohl Center sells out for all their games....17,190. Williams Arena attendance last year averaged 12,450. So, just short of 5000 PER GAME difference. At $25 per ticket (conservative estimate), that is $125,000 per game difference. Now, factor their 18 home games and you're at $2.25 million difference on ticket revenue alone. Now, factor in concessions, parking, novelty sales, TV/Radio revenue, arena advertising, game programs ads/sales, etc. Add in that the Kohl Center has 36 premium suites that are sold out every game. Williams Arena has 21 "Barn Lofts" that are sold out for most games, but not all. All of that makes it easy to see why Bucky's revenue is so high and why we have to try to make up the difference.

[Caravan Shaker]

For the purpose of full disclosure, I used total men's and women's revenues rather than strictly men's in my figures, but the difference between the women's revenues of MN and WI was only $300k. Interestingly, Kentucky's basketball revenue was $15 million, practically all of which is from the men's team. I would have thought with their 23,000 seat arena they'd be much higher. I'd guess the lack of luxury suites is really bringing down their potential revenue.

[TruthTeller]

Well, in case you haven't noticed, Wisconsin played Long Beach State, SIU-Edwardsville, UW-Milwaukee, Idaho State, UW-Green Bay, Coppin State, and Texas at home this year. Texas is the lone marquee matchup. Eventually, that's what our schedule will look like. A bunch of lightweights, one really good home matchup, and one really good road matchup. Next year probably.

And, Tubby Smith is earning about $500,000/yr more than Bo Ryan. Tubby at $1.76. Bo at $1.25.

A sellout at Wisconsin gets them 17,000 people. A sellout at Minnesota gets them about 14,500 people. That means to keep up, Minnesota needs a few more home dates.

And, Wisconsin has a practice facility and Tubby wants one very badly.

And, lastly, according to the linked figures, Wisconsin spent about $5.9 million on men's basketball last year. Minnesota spent about $3.1 million. So, to answer the question, yes, right now Wisconsin has more resources. Minnesota is trying to keep up and generating income with home games that don't require a return road trip is one way to do it.

http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/

Tubby earning 500K more than Bo is not considered a resource disparity, imo.

What did WI spend their $$ on, to the tune of 2.8M?

[Friend Of Tubby]

It's pretty simple actually. He adjusts the schedule difficulty to keep his streak of 20 win seasons going. As the teams gets better, he'll maybe schedule tougher NC opponents. This year, he figured (not publicly of course) that he could win 8-10 conference games. Simple math tells you that you need 10-11 NC wins so that's why it's cupcake city. The Virginia game was set by the B10/ACC folks and the L'ville game was an invite so Tubby did not schedule one single formidable opponent on his own, with the exception of maybe Cornell, but I'm still convinced they're not better than a NDSU type squad. Speaking of Cornell, today's paper (can't remember if it was Sid or Shooter) said that Wittman won't leave early for the NBA and that he'll graduate in 4 years. I almost spit out my coffee when I read that. He must have the same advisor as Rick Rickert...LOL!!!!

He played an average of 11 ranked (AP poll) teams in 10 years at UK, total of 107 ranked teams. UK (all-time) averages 7 ranked (AP poll) teams per season over 60 years of AP poll rankings.

So he played TOUGHER schedules than UK historically did and averaged 26 W (never less than 22 W) there.

[Rouser]

Tubby is the best thing to happen to Gopher hoops in..well, forever if you ask me. That said, his excuses for the scheduling "difficulties" were weak sauce.

Monson didn't have great schedules but they were a lot better than the past two years. We always played at least one BSC type program IN ADDITION to the ACC challenge. Oregon, Georga, GA Tech, Iowa St., Nebraska, Zona St., etc.

No reason we couldn't have done that this year. I mean, Oregon St or Nebraska would not have jeopardized our season.

At the end of the day, I think Tubby will boost the schedule a bit...hopefully next year. Like SS said, Tulsa would be nice but that should not be the marquee game.

[tjgopher]

Tubby earning 500K more than Bo is not considered a resource disparity, imo.

No, but it goes to the point...the U must play a lot of home games to generate revenue to pay the man. It has already been documented that the U has less revenue...now they pay more, too. Don't you see why they need to try for the extra home dates. It is all about the budget.




What did WI spend their $$ on, to the tune of 2.8M?

I don't know. Probably things that aren't that important, like recruiting, travel, facilities, equipment, assistant coach's salaries, etc.

It sounds to me like the Truth Teller was given the truth and he doesn't like it. The reality is it is costly to run a winning basketball program. Not just monetarily. It at times might also mean the fans have to put up with crappy home games in the non-conference because those games where you get revenue and don't have to give up a home game are important. Again, I believe they will have a "Wisconsin-like" schedule in the future. Several patsies, one good home game and one good road game. It is just reality.

[book]

The NCAA has to step up! They need to enforce a policy that states that the major conferences must play at least 40 percent of their non-conference games against other major conference teams. So if we have 12 of these games - we should have 3 home and 3 on the road "real games" a year - with 6 other games at our discretion! We are paying the money so asking for 3 major conference non-conference games a year is not asking the team too much!

[dlw4gophers]

2009 Just got tougher. Minnesota will be in the 76 classic over Thanksgiving week-end. It is held in Anaheim, Ca. Other teams in this are Long Beach St., Texas A&M, West Virginia, Clemson, Butler, Portland, U.C.L.A. and the Gophers.


www.76classic.com

Thanksgiving in Southern California. I'm there.