Top 25 CBB Jobs

[uconnfan68]

Indiana the team may suck (if Kenpom #30 last year counts as sucking), but the coaching job is pretty good. Indiana has B10 money, is top 10 nationally in home attendance at 16,000 per game, has a strong supportive fan base, is close to Chicago and some other recruiting markets. A good coach could parlay that into a team that competes nationally. After Bobby Knight had a .735 winning percentage there, Kelvin Sampson had a .741 winning percentage. Mike Woodson, the current coach, makes $3 million per year, slightly more than Dan Hurley. I'd say that's a good job.

And we have trophies.

 

[HooperScooper]

List of highest paid coaches (for 2023 so before Cooley move). Seems like a good place to start for best jobs (follow the money):

1. John Calipari, Kentucky — $8.1 Million
2. Bill Self, Kansas — $6 Million
3. Tom Izzo, Michigan State — $5.7 Million
4. Rick Barnes, Tennessee — $5.45 Million
5. Bruce Pearl, Auburn — $5.4 Million
6. Tony Bennett, Virginia — $4.83 Million
7. Brad Underwood, Illinois — $4.6 Million
8. Bob Huggins, West Virginia — $4.2 Million
9. Mick Cronin, UCLA — $4.1 Million
10. Buzz Williams, Texas A&M — $4.1 Million

Six of these guys have never won an NCAA championship, only one of these guys has more rings than Ollie and none have more than Tyler O. Not sure how much outside income is available with each job, Dawn Staley of the South Carolina women's basketball had a good advertising gig for AFLAC.

It's insane that Cooley would be tied for 2nd on that list. The people at Georgetown who made this decision are absolutely nuts.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Indiana the team may suck (if Kenpom #30 last year counts as sucking), but the coaching job is pretty good. Indiana has B10 money, is top 10 nationally in home attendance at 16,000 per game, has a strong supportive fan base, is close to Chicago and some other recruiting markets. A good coach could parlay that into a team that competes nationally. After Bobby Knight had a .735 winning percentage there, Kelvin Sampson had a .741 winning percentage. Mike Woodson, the current coach, makes $3 million per year, slightly more than Dan Hurley. I'd say that's a good job.

Why is Indiana a better job than Purdue? They are equidistant from Indianapolis, but Purdue is about 100 minutes closer to Chicago and the northern Indiana population centers. Purdue is loyal to it coaches where Indiana is ruthless.

Every big 10 school recruits Chicago. It’s one of the Big 10’s problems. All its main recruiting regions are very both super competitive, and shrinking in terms of kids growing up there. This is why the Big 10 has sucked at hoops for so long.

 

[auror]

Why is Indiana a better job than Purdue? They are equidistant from Indianapolis, but Purdue is about 100 minutes closer to Chicago and the northern Indiana population centers. Purdue is loyal to it coaches where Indiana is ruthless.

Every big 10 school recruits Chicago. It’s one of the Big 10’s problems. All its main recruiting regions are very both super competitive, and shrinking in terms of kids growing up there. This is why the Big 10 has sucked at hoops for so long.

Indiana has more fans, more prestige, better NIL.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Indiana has more fans, more prestige, better NIL.

More prestige among Gen Xers and Boomers maybe. Many recruits' parents were still little kids when Indiana won its last title.

How does the metropolis of Bloomington, Indiana have more NIL than Purdue, halfway between Indianapolis and Chicago and in a much more heavily populated area of Indiana?

 

[auror]

More prestige among Gen Xers and Boomers maybe. Many recruits' parents were still little kids when Indiana won its last title.

How does the metropolis of Bloomington, Indiana have more NIL than Purdue, halfway between Indianapolis and Chicago and in a much more heavily populated area of Indiana?

Because Indians is Indiana, as in the state university of Indiana. Their fans are throughout the whole state. It's not just alums.

Indiana has boomer fans, sure. Thus the NIL But they do have fans of all ages, it's the family team. They have the most KenPom subscribers of any school (metric that measures more intense, younger, online fans). They also have the 4th most social followers of any team.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Because Indians is Indiana, as in the state university of Indiana. Their fans are throughout the whole state. It's not just alums.

Indiana has boomer fans, sure. Thus the NIL But they do have fans of all ages, it's the family team. They have the most KenPom subscribers of any school (metric that measures more intense, younger, online fans). They also have the 4th most social followers of any team.

The split between Indiana and Purdue is very different than you portray it. Both are state schools. Historically, Purdue was the engineering school for Indiana, and UI was the liberal arts school. In the last 30 years, engineering has become much more important, as you can see by the relative movement of those two schools in academic rankings. Purdue is the better and more respected school academically in Indiana and nationally, which matters.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The list for me should be a combination of backwards looking success at the school and fan support along with current and future projections of facilities, personal financial opportunities for coaches and chances of winning championships.

No school should be in the top 15 that doesn't have a history of championships and sustained national success for extended periods of time.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't get the Louisville ranking. They aren't doing well and will always be second fiddle in Kentucky. Way too high.

Florida stands out as way too low. That's a great job. Past history, loads of money. It's a better job than Arkansas or Alabama. They just need the right coach.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The list for me should be a combination of backwards looking success at the school and fan support along with current and future projections of facilities, personal financial opportunities for coaches and chances of winning championships.

No school should be in the top 15 that doesn't have a history of championships and sustained national success for extended periods of time.

I'll add in as part of fan support as containing how reasonable or unreasonable fan base is and how easily a coach can get canned due to unreasonable fan expectation. Security and stability for the coaching position is a factor for me.

 

[auror]

I don't get the Louisville ranking. They aren't doing well and will always be second fiddle in Kentucky. Way too high.

Florida stands out as way too low. That's a great job. Past history, loads of money. It's a better job than Arkansas or Alabama. They just need the right coach.

Hiring what turns out is the wrong guy doesn't really reflect on the job itself, as we know. They're in a college basketball crazy market with a lucrative athletic department and top 10 history.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

UCLA last won in 1995

Also, Stanford is indeed a great university with an awesome location but you glossed over the most important aspect. Hard to see Stanford ever going all in on hoops. They see themselves as the Harvard of the West (rightfully so) and probably think it's beneath them to cater to a basketball team.

Brain fart on 1995, especially considering that should have been UConn's first title.

I don't think people appreciate how wealthy and powerful Stanford alumni are. Stanford would not need to go "all in" on hoops. They could go 5% in, and it would be enough to build a powerhouse. All they need is a handful of tech or VC billionaires to make Stanford hoops their pet project, and they would be a force. Stanford was not willing to do what it took to compete in the pre-NIL world, but now that it is not cheating anymore, they might.

As for the Ivies, don't sleep on them. They have a lot of rich alumni with huge egos that can write massive checks. If Harvard or Yale ever decided they wanted to compete in hoops, they could go toe-to-toe with anyone.

The SEC was dominant in football and good in basketball because it was willing to cheat at a level that other schools were not. Now that it is not cheating anymore, watch out. There is no way that Auburn or Mississippi or Mississippi State are going to be able to compete in the long term. They don't have the cities, the alumni money or the local corporations to go up against a Texas or Georgia or Michigan, or a UConn or Pitt for that matter. I said when it happened that Texas and Oklahoma going to the SEC was a panic move, not a power move. The SEC has money now, and is trying to lock in their status before NIL swamps them.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

More prestige among Gen Xers and Boomers maybe. Many recruits' parents were still little kids when Indiana won its last title.

How old were they the last time Purdue won a title?

Not to be snarky but you can't use this against Indiana without also applying it to Purdue.

Within the state of Indiana basketball is so fully ingrained in the culture and Indiana is, in the eyes of many in that state, the hallmark. In many ways they are basically a lower key Kentucky (that hasn't yet resorted to the mercenary mentality that Kentucky has had since the near death penalty a little more than three decades ago).

 

[HuskyHawk]

Hiring what turns out is the wrong guy doesn't really reflect on the job itself, as we know. They're in a college basketball crazy market with a lucrative athletic department and top 10 history.

What you said about IU and Purdue applies here. Outside of the city, UK owns the state, and they are probably as popular as Louisville in the city. Louisville should be on the list, but they are way too high. Main thing they have going for them is Yum.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Texas and Louisville are laughable, but otherwise this is about right for us.

 

[DFW HOYA]

$6M seems like a good job to me.

$6M? Said who?

 

[kobe]

this account clearly has a mid major bias. 4 of the top 25 is way too many, imo.

 

[auror]

What you said about IU and Purdue applies here. Outside of the city, UK owns the state, and they are probably as popular as Louisville in the city. Louisville should be on the list, but they are way too high. Main thing they have going for them is Yum.

But the city and surrounding area is college basketball wild. The Louisville KY market is the #1 college basketball ratings market (and yes it's split between them and KY and probably some Cincy/Xavier fans, but Lexington and Cincy themselves are distinct DMAs). You're right that they're IU/Purdue, except if Purdue had been the best or 2nd best program of the 80s and then followed it up with a dominant Pitino era. Purdue has been consistently pretty good. Louisville has 3* titles and 9 final fours post 1970.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

How old were they the last time Purdue won a title?

Not to be snarky but you can't use this against Indiana without also applying it to Purdue.

Within the state of Indiana basketball is so fully ingrained in the culture and Indiana is, in the eyes of many in that state, the hallmark. In many ways they are basically a lower key Kentucky (that hasn't yet resorted to the mercenary mentality that Kentucky has had since the near death penalty a little more than three decades ago).

I didn’t put Purdue in my Top 15 jobs.

Indiana is split between Indiana and Purdue, and the programs are going in opposite directions athletically and academically.

 

[cap10dingus]

We belong somewhere between 6 and 13 on this list. the Louisville positioning is the most alarming here but ahead of Mich St, Michigan, and Ohio St.....we should be fine with this.