Dean Wormer wrote:This is the kind of UNI silliness I was referring to in my last post on this. The only way this list can make any type of verifiable sense is the giant assumption that salaries are where they are today. Is UNI really going to pay the next coach what they are paying Jacobson? I seriously doubt that.
Without hesitation.
When you look at resources, and potential, I still maintain UNI would be much closer to the bottom than the top. UNI has some good recent success, and I won't even get into the debate of solid..they have been that. But despite the recent success, UNI has mediocre attendance, one of the worst arenas in the league, and the smallest market with the crappiest weather. Some people like long winters, most don't. From purely a national perspective, it is probably the least desirable spot in the conference to relocate to. From my perspective, Bradley has a higher ceiling potential than UNI. The name may not mean as much to people under 30, but the facilities, fan support and potential market interest is far better. Heck, the same can be said for Evansville. Now, having those advantages doesn't mean a thing if the AD and or Administration is weak or unwilling to capitalize on those advantages.
What I'm hearing is "Blah blah blah....UNI is kicking our asses 8 ways to Sunday even though we claim to have 10 times the money and support all because we chose not to dedicate to basketball. Meanwhile, UNI has completely restructured the entire athletic department the last decade to ensure basketball never drops back. To ensure that the budget and needs for basketball are always met, no matter what they are. Because of that I'm going to resort to bashing the weather...even though that's never a slam I'd have used for Creighton, or Drake, or Normal, or Peoria. Turns out the weather isn't that different.
Avg Jan temp in
Cedar Falls? 30*/10* with .79 inches of precipitation with 30 inches of snow per year
Normal? 32*/15* with 2.13 inches of precipitation with 25 inches of snow per year
Peoria? 32*/17* with 1.77 inches of precipitation with 20 inches of snow per year
Des Moines? 31*/14* 1.02 inches of precipitation with 35 inches of snow per year
Omaha 32*/12* with .79 inches of precipitation with 27 inches of snow per year
Hell, even Carbondale and Terra Haute see about a foot of snow per year on average.
Hmm...seems pretty standard across the upper region of the MVC footprint, doesn't it?
Any other pathetic attempt to downplay UNI's dominance of everyone sans WSU when it comes to success over the last 15 or so years?
IMO, take your scenario, equalize the pay at all ten, which is fair, because I think anyone in the league can run with UNI in salary, if they chose to do so. WSU appears to be the only program currently that has resources out of reach of everyone else. Same salary, same support from AD, the current facilities and markets of each school, current fan support and resources, and the freedom to mine those as the coach sees fit, I think the list would look more like this.
1. WSU
2. Bradley
3. Evansville
4. ISU Red
5. SIU
6. MSU
7. ISU Blue
8. Loyola
9. UNI
10. Drake
If every school can run with UNI on salary, why is no one doing it? You know, you'd attract more coaches if you'd give them a million per year rather than grabbing a guy from the MAC or Horizon league. You'd also be able to keep them should they find success. Evansville being the third job filled, even with equal pay, is a riot. Loyola and ISUb being a head of UNI? You realize ISUb is crowd sourcing uniforms right? Meanwhile UNI is hooked into Nike's "elite" program and gets everything they want for free for all sports at this point.
You bang on the McLeod Center yet Loyola plays in a high school gym.
The Hulman Center is a dump - though I suppose there is plans for the city to eventually renovate it, though a June article from ENR Midwest sounds like construction is still 2 years away if things go well
Evansville and Bradley don't own their arenas.
The thing is, everything can be equal according to you. Every single school in the MVC can pay their coach what UNI is paying Jake. So why aren't they? Imagine a MVC where the average salary is pushing a million and every school is actually trying. You just admitted UNI and WSU are the only schools trying. You are getting embarassed by a tiny public school with funding issues in podunk Iowa that lives under 90 feet of snow 360 days per year...the other 5 days are tornado filled.
That says a hell of a lot more about how pathetic Bradley is than anything UNI related.
