Florida basketball

[Go Budaw]

Florida is now 17-10, #63 in the RPI, 8-6 in the league, and staring at a murderer’s row in their last 4 games which includes the 3 best teams in the league (Auburn, UT, UK) as well as a road game against RPI #34 Alabama who absolutely blew their doors off in Gainesville already. They are staring the NIT dead in the face right now. 2-2 against that stretch of teams will have them squarely on the bubble heading into the SEC tournament. 1-3 or 0-4 basically means they have to win the SECT to get a bid. This is from a team that is loaded with talent and has been ranked in the Top 20 for much of the year.

Does anyone still think Michael White would never consider leaving for OM (before he gets fired), or that Stricklin and company would break the bank to keep him in Gainesville after that kind of collapse?

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

Do you really think he will be fired a year removed from the elite 8?

 

[preacher_dawg]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the OP is saying that he might leave for OM before he gets fired if he has more seasons like this one. I just don't see it happening. That type of fear is usually not in coaches' DNA, especially after one down season, but if it is, I hope he goes to OM.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Does anyone still think Michael White would never consider leaving for OM (before he gets fired), or that Stricklin and company would break the bank to keep him in Gainesville after that kind of collapse?

I’m not sure anyone other than you thinks he would leave Florida for Ole Miss.

 

[Go Budaw]

Do you really think he will be fired a year removed from the elite 8?

This year? Hell no. But he’ll be squarely on the hot seat if he stays and will be gone for sure if they miss the dance again in ‘19 because UF expects to make the dance every year. One Elite 8 isn’t gonna buy good will for long. Thats the point, why would he put himself under that kind of pressure when he can return to his alma mater, probably get a small raise, and restart his clock for at least 3-4 more years at absolute minimum?

 

[Go Budaw]

I’m not sure anyone other than you thinks he would leave Florida for Ole Miss.

I’m not the only one who posted it as a possibility. And I’m not saying its a sure thing either, I just wouldn’t rule it out. It’s not totally dissimilar from when we hired Cohen from UK, who had just won the SEC and were about to pay him the highest salary in the country. If Cohen had played at Bama or LSU, he’d have never considered bolting from a recent league champion to what was at the time a complete dumpster fire. MSU being his alma mater made all the difference.

 

[mstateglfr]

I’m not the only one who posted it as a possibility. And I’m not saying its a sure thing either, I just wouldn’t rule it out. It’s not totally dissimilar from when we hired Cohen from UK, who had just won the SEC and were about to pay him the highest salary in the country. If Cohen had played at Bama or LSU, he’d have never considered bolting from a recent league champion to what was at the time a complete dumpster fire. MSU being his alma mater made all the difference.

Posting thoughts doesnt make those thoughts actual possibilities.

 

[drummerdawg]

I’m not the only one who posted it as a possibility. And I’m not saying its a sure thing either, I just wouldn’t rule it out. It’s not totally dissimilar from when we hired Cohen from UK, who had just won the SEC and were about to pay him the highest salary in the country. If Cohen had played at Bama or LSU, he’d have never considered bolting from a recent league champion to what was at the time a complete dumpster fire. MSU being his alma mater made all the difference.

OM basketball isn't equivalent to MSU baseball, nor is Kentucky baseball equivalent to Florida basketball...

 

[Go Budaw]

OM basketball isn't equivalent to MSU baseball, nor is Kentucky baseball equivalent to Florida basketball...

Which is why the words “not totally dissimilar” were used instead of “exactly the same”. And none of what you said changes the overall point that Cohen would have never taken our job at that time if he wasn’t an alum. Coaches often want to return to their alma maters when they get the opportunity. Denying that is extremely naive.

And furthermore, the current version of OM basketball and our baseball program in 2008 are much more comparable than you must want to admit. Surely I’m not the only one that remembers being the worst team in the league for 3 years in a row before the 2011 season.

 

[DAWG61]

I don't think OM is gonna go after White. I don't think he's even on their list of potentials. I do think Florida is waffling on him right now. They aren't loving the signing class I believe and they have been fighting back and forth on firing him amongst the fanbase. He's done a pretty ****** job this year. Last year it was all Donovan's players.

 

[JungRebel]

White does not want the OM job.

 

[JungRebel]

"What's the difference between the things that never were and the things that never will be?"

"Actual possibilities"---hm...

Of course it is 'possible' in the sense that we don't know the future and it doesn't violate any of the so called laws of nature. Don't go too hard on him, his speculation isn't that implausible. But white isn't taking the Ole Miss job while he has goodwill at Florida or any other traditional power. He wants to win NCAA championships and you can't do that at OM.

 

[Philly Dawg]

If they go 2-2 against those four teams, that would be two good wins and no bad wins and it should be generally positive for their RPI.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

Which is why the words “not totally dissimilar” were used instead of “exactly the same”. And none of what you said changes the overall point that Cohen would have never taken our job at that time if he wasn’t an alum. Coaches often want to return to their alma maters when they get the opportunity. Denying that is extremely naive.

And furthermore, the current version of OM basketball and our baseball program in 2008 are much more comparable than you must want to admit. Surely I’m not the only one that remembers being the worst team in the league for 3 years in a row before the 2011 season.

The only similarity is that the coach's alma mater is open. Other than that I don't see anything in the two scenarios that line up.

MSU baseball is an elite program where OM basketball is not. Florida basketball is an elite program where Kentucky is not. Really those 2 situations you described are completely opposite. White would be taking a voluntary step down while Cohen took a big step up.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

White does not want the OM job.

Like Don mulkins did not want the Florida job.

 

[Go Budaw]

The only similarity is that the coach's alma mater is open. Other than that I don't see anything in the two scenarios that line up.

MSU baseball is an elite program where OM basketball is not. Florida basketball is an elite program where Kentucky is not. Really those 2 situations you described are completely opposite. White would be taking a voluntary step down while Cohen took a big step up.

MSU baseball was not an elite program by any criteria in 2008. Even now, after being a national runner up, SEC champion, and 3x super regional participant in the past 5 years, we are at best the 5th best SEC program (behind Vandy, UF, LSU, and USC and slightly ahead of OM and Ark). Cohen restored us to that Top 15 level nationally, and in the early going Cann has sustained it. But we still have a ways to go to establish ourselves as an elite program (which you can’t ever claim when you have zero NC’s in your history). The new stadium should go a long way to doing that.

 

[Go Budaw]

If they go 2-2 against those four teams, that would be two good wins and no bad wins and it should be generally positive for their RPI.

I think it probably puts them with an RPI in the mid to high 40’s or low 50’s. That’s bubble territory, so they would need a win or two in SEC tourney to cenent their status. It’s hard to picture them moving up more than 15-20 spots with only 2 wins, especially with each game meaning less and less in the calculation as the sample size goes up.

 

[Go Budaw]

"What's the difference between the things that never were and the things that never will be?"

"Actual possibilities"---hm...

Of course it is 'possible' in the sense that we don't know the future and it doesn't violate any of the so called laws of nature. Don't go too hard on him, his speculation isn't that implausible. But white isn't taking the Ole Miss job while he has goodwill at Florida or any other traditional power. He wants to win NCAA championships and you can't do that at OM.

Good post. The bolded portion above is what I was hitting at mostly. The “goodwill at Florida” will go away quickly if they continue on their current trajectory. For whatever reason, they aren’t nearly the same team that beat Cincinnati and Gonzaga back in November / December. It reminds me a lot of Stans’ meltdown in 2011 after knocking off some high profile teams in the nonconference, and Gottfried’s Bama team from the early 2000’s that was ranked #1 in the nation heading into SEC play that ended up in the NIT.

 

[cowbell88]

Slight thread hijack, but tv last night was surely talking up Abernathy moving up. Thought I’d missed something at first.

 

[JungRebel]

No, it's more like how Dan didn't want the Ursinas job, but neither are good analogies.