Cincy coach dissing the valley and ISU

[Hortonfldhse]

Don’t expect Mick Cronin to bring Cincinnati back to Redbird Arena any time soon. | Photo gallery

The Cincinnati coach wasn’t being a sore loser after Illinois State downed the Bearcats 62-52 Saturday night. Earlier in the week, Cronin questioned why former Coach Bob Huggins scheduled a home-and-home series against ISU. The Redbirds played at Cincinnati in 2005.

“You have to understand we have 18 Big East games. That’s a brutality. At our level you probably need to play four (tough) nonconference games out of your 27,” said Cronin after the ISU loss. “For recruiting, you try to get nationally televised (nonconference) games. Nothing against (Illinois State).”

Cronin was Murray State’s coach for three years before returning to Cincinnati last season. He realizes how difficult it is for schools such as ISU to get home-and-home series against programs from BCS football schools.

“Believe me, when I was at Murray State no one would play me home and home. It wasn’t happening. We had to pack up and go,” said Cronin. “Southern Miss played us home and home, and we beat them by 40. That was the end of that. I’ve been on that side of it, and I know how fired up everybody was when they were coming to our place.

“It’s the nature of the beast in college athletics. I tell people it’s nothing personal. I have to do what’s best for my program.”

The one person who completely understands Cronin’s predicament is first-year ISU coach Tim Jankovich.

After being an assistant at Kansas, Illinois and Vanderbilt, Jankovich realizes playing teams from conferences like the Missouri Valley Conference on the road is often coaching suicide.

“At the very high levels and the very low leveIs, the high levels pay money to get the low levels to come to their building and help finance their programs,” said Jankovich. “But the most dangerous thing right now is the so-called high levels venturing into very good situations that maybe perception-wise are not even par. Those are the toughest schedules right now.

“If you look at everybody’s (schedule), you won’t see very many of those. You’re fortunate when that happens.”

Jankovich is finding that out trying to map out the Redbirds’ future schedule. ISU doesn’t want to play a BCS school on the road without getting a home game in return.

Bradley entertained Michigan State this week in Peoria, but that was a 2-for-1 deal with the Braves going to East Lansing twice. Southern Illinois had Indiana at home last week in a 1-for-1 deal, but the only reason the Salukis were able to swing that was because Indiana desperately needed a football opponent. SIU used a home-and-home basketball series as leverage.




His comment about being at their level, Apparently any team in a BCS conference is at a level above the Valley

[kevinmitchell]

It's only coaching suicide if you are a bad coach. The good ones who play these games--Michigan State, Indiana, etc. don't feel so insecure about it. It's the guys who ARE insecure (guys struggling like Cronin at Cincinnati) who call these "suicide" games.

If you feel secure in your job and that you are a good coach you don't worry about this stuff--guys like Cronin do. Besides, God Bless Murray State but it isn't in the Valley. Not all "mid-majors" are the same--just as all "majors" aren't the same.

[Mick Taylor]

Indiana?! Under Mike Davis, sure. Kelvin Sampson went to Carbondale kicking and screaming. Ask Evansville or Indiana State fans how willing IU is to schedule them. The IU-ISU series is dead in the water for the forseeable future. IU does not willingly play mid-majors on the road anymore.

[bleach]

It's only coaching suicide if you are a bad coach. The good ones who play these games--Michigan State, Indiana, etc. don't feel so insecure about it. It's the guys who ARE insecure (guys struggling like Cronin at Cincinnati) who call these "suicide" games.

If you feel secure in your job and that you are a good coach you don't worry about this stuff--guys like Cronin do. Besides, God Bless Murray State but it isn't in the Valley. Not all "mid-majors" are the same--just as all "majors" aren't the same.Even the "secure" coaches aren't scheduling valley schools unless there are special circumstances....at least 2 for 1....and even then most won't unless the state legislature requires it. I didn't think Cronin was dissing the valley though, just being accurate about the strength of opponent versus the perception.

[DawgFan]

Check out Cronin's recruiting tactics and who he put on his roster at Murray St. Explains all there is to him.

Jank comes off as a guy who wants to get back to a BCS school pronto. You go to JUD you got problems.

[Aegyptus]

Whatever. This is just Cronin complaining because Cincinnati is irrelevant for the foreseeable future in the Big East. Cincinnati basketball will never be the same in the Big East and will never finish in the top 5. Same for Cincinnati football.

Cincinnati is a mid-pack Valley team at best right now. He may not want to schedule the Valley, but he is going to have a hard time getting good BCS teams to schedule them also because they are an RPI killer. Their current RPI is 286 and last years RPI was 174. Cincinnati is a mid-major program in a high-major conference. He has no room to complain. If he wants to complain about something, he should complain about being in the Big East where they suddenly went from a competitive mid-major to a non-competitive high-major.

[BradleyBrave]

Check out Cronin's recruiting tactics and who he put on his roster at Murray St. Explains all there is to him.

Jank comes off as a guy who wants to get back to a BCS school pronto. You go to JUD you got problems.

I haven't paid as much attention to Jank as the ISU folks, but I definitely get the impression that he sees ISU as a stepping stone and will bolt at the first perceived 'better' job. I'm obviously a BU guy, but I have always thought ISU is a place where you could really build a powerhouse. Kevin Stallings proved it could be done. I don't think Jank will be there long enough to do that.

[WeWillShockU]

I haven't paid as much attention to Jank as the ISU folks, but I definitely get the impression that he sees ISU as a stepping stone and will bolt at the first perceived 'better' job. I'm obviously a BU guy, but I have always thought ISU is a place where you could really build a powerhouse. Kevin Stallings proved it could be done. I don't think Jank will be there long enough to do that.

I have always thought that ISU Red should be a power house Valley program. Good facilities and proximity to Chicago for recruiting. Jank may leave but he will need to win first. He did make a few comments when he was hired that didn't set well with some Valley Talk posters.

[outpost]

I have already resigned myself to the likelihood of not seeing another Big East school for a long time.

WSU played Boston College (with Craig Smith & Co.) to a close game on a neutral court 3-4 years ago. We followed that up by beating Providence on the road. Later the same year, our S-16 year, we beat Seton Hall badly in a Round 1 NCAA tourney game.

Last year we beat Syracuse on the road and a determined but dysfunctional Providence squad in the return match from the year before.

It wouldn't matter if we're the team that falls into the abyss. The Big East won't want any part of us for the foreseeable future.

[MSNSaluki]

Indiana?! Under Mike Davis, sure. Kelvin Sampson went to Carbondale kicking and screaming. Ask Evansville or Indiana State fans how willing IU is to schedule them. The IU-ISU series is dead in the water for the forseeable future. IU does not willingly play mid-majors on the road anymore.

And Mike Davis came to Carbondale kicking and screaming in 2001 because Bobby Knight had scheduled a series with SIU.

Coaches hate games they had no control in scheduling.

[Majik45]

Here's a totally opposite view of the Cincy coach by Tom Izzo after playing two tough road games at Bradley and at BYU last week. It's from the Peoria paper this morning:

When Michigan State rallied twice last week to beat Bradley and BYU on the road, its record improved to 8-1.
But the greatest benefit for the No. 9 Spartans could be the confidence they will take into other hostile settings.

"That's what I've always believed," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said Monday. "I believe in getting them tougher by going places and doing things that other people don't want to do. To be able to do that week and survive, I'll be able to use that down the road."

The Spartans beat the Braves, 66-61, last Tuesday at Carver Arena and tamed the Cougars, 68-61, Saturday in Salt Lake City before record crowds for college basketball, Izzo noted.

"I've played a lot of places," he said. "And I don't think there's any question that going to Duke is great, and Kansas is great. But those two venues last week, under those circumstances, rank up there in the top six to eight to 10 places I've been, with the hype of those events."

Impact on NCAA seeding?

"There are always some marquee points in the season when you earn people's respect," Izzo said. "Last week was one of them. Whether that will help us with the (NCAA Selection) Committee or not, they know we went to two tough places to play and found ways to win. Sometimes I wonder if the end of November or early December carries much clout. But I know it can't hurt you."


Full article is here:
http://pjstar.com/stories/121107/COL_BF5R512I.080.php

[iSASO]

How can you not like Tom Izzo? Maybe Mizzou State can hire him after they fire Barruh.

[NoPlaceLikeDome]

UNI and Drake fans here this every year.

The Cyclones and Hawkeyes have umpteen Big 11/12 games that they need to prepare for. "Driving that whole 1-2 hour drive just doesn't help prepare us for our conference schedule. We need to schedule games that we can win."

[LincolnJay]

I haven't paid as much attention to Jank as the ISU folks, but I definitely get the impression that he sees ISU as a stepping stone and will bolt at the first perceived 'better' job. I'm obviously a BU guy, but I have always thought ISU is a place where you could really build a powerhouse. Kevin Stallings proved it could be done. I don't think Jank will be there long enough to do that.

Well, I'm not a BU guy and I see the same thing. This guy will be gone like a fart in a whirlwind.

[C0|db|00ded]

Tom Izzo is one of the last of the real men in college coaching. I still love him even after his team spanked the Shockers a couple years back by 19. I would be ecstatic if we would start a home, home, neutral series with him


T


...:cool:

[DannyCooksey]

Well, I'm not a BU guy and I see the same thing. This guy will be gone like a fart in a whirlwind.

He has to win and win big for that to happen. He knows that. No one will come calling for him after a bunch of 18 win seasons. He better string some 20+ win seasons and a couple NCAA wins before he becomes a hot item.

There are other factors that may keep him here even if he does win which all Bird fans hope.

1. He has a young son (8 years old I think) and the B/N area is one of the best places certainly in the state and perhaps even the midwest to raise a child. B/N is a great place to live and people have been known to not want to leave once they settle in.

2. He is 47 years old and has been pretty nomadic in his career. That could lead some to say that it proves their theory that he will certainly leave soon. Maybe so. But eventually people get tired of constantly moving (so do their wives) and perhaps he is ready to make this a more permanent home.

Time will tell, but I don't get the impression that he is waiting by the phone to get the next plane to BigTime U. Yes big paychecks are a factor of course and that can motivate anyone to want to find it, but if he wins big, he might just find a big enough paycheck in B/N to stay right where he is.

He has to win big first.

[REALBird]

Well, I'm not a BU guy and I see the same thing. This guy will be gone like a fart in a whirlwind.


Well why don't we just wait and let the guy finish his first season before we start packing his friggin' bags.

[BearsCountry]

Hey my opinion is if your coach is getting BCS jobs it means you are doing something right with your program.

[REALBird]

Hey my opinion is if your coach is getting BCS jobs it means you are doing something right with your program.
I totally agree, but coming from a fan of what's supposed to be our biggest rival, and the alma mater of our previous coach I think there's more to their posts than just commenting on Janks potential success.

Surely if Porter Moser was still here there would be no such talks of a BCS job linked to Illinois State's success.