NCAA Basketball FanHouse

Creighton Has a Week of Flop Sweat To Endure

Chas Rich — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:37:00 EST

The flagbearer of the Missouri Valley Conference is going to have to wait a week to find out if that ending in the MVC Tournament costs them dearly. The Bluejays have played well this season and had a top-40 RPI. Yet because they only had two games against teams in the top-100 RPI (both wins), they are viewed as not being tested sufficiently.

Creighton has only given critics fuel in just a couple days. They blew a double-digit lead on Friday against Wichita State, needing a last second miracle shot tosend them into the semi-finals of the MVC Tournament. That should have been enough, but then the Jays were completely blown away by Illinois State. They never showed up for the game.

Now, the only certainty is that Creighton has helped to make the bubble that much more crowded.

Illinois State 73, Creighton 49: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

Creighton Has a Week of Flop Sweat To Endure originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Teams Announced For 2009 'Bracket Busters'

Shiloh Carder — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:15:00 EST

Filed under: Butler, Creighton, Davidson, George Mason, Nevada, WCC, Wichita State, Mid-Majors, MVC, Fans, Media Watch

Update 2/2/09: The 2009 BracketBusters matchups have been announced.

The Bracket Busters is a series that began in 2003 and was designed to pit mid-majors in inter-conference battles late in the regular season. With ESPN tied in, it brings national TV audiences to places they may normally not go.

It helps these teams immensely by getting them exposure, pumping up their RPI numbers and answers some of those questions about the strength of these mid-major conferences.

102 teams were named to be in this year's event ... which will take place on February 20-21.

The marquee name will be Davidson College, home of Stephen Curry and a Wildcats team that were a shot away from getting to the Final Four.

Other big time mid-majors include Butler, Drake, San Diego, Nevada, St. Mary's, Bucknell and George Mason.

Matchups will be set on February 9th. After the jump are the teams that are participating.Home teams: Ball State, Boston, Bowling Green, Bucknell, Cal Poly, Central Michigan, Creighton, Davidson, Drake, Drexel, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Evansville, Fairfield, Georgia Southern, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana State, James Madison, Kent State, Long Beach State, Loyola-IL, Marist, Murray State, Nevada, New Mexico State, Niagara, Old Dominion, Portland State, Rider, San Diego, San Jose State, Siena, Southeast Missouri, St. Mary's, Tennessee State, Towsom, UC-Davis, UC-Santa Barbara, UIC, UNC-Wilmington, UT-Martin, UW-Milwaukee, Valpo, Vermont, Western Michigan, Wichita State, William & Mary, Winthrop, Wright State and Youngstown State.

Away teams: Akron, Appalachian State, Austin Peay, Boise State, Bradley, Buffalo, Butler, Canisius, Cleveland State, CS-Fullerton, CS-Northridge, Delaware, Detroit, Eastern Illinois, Elon, FDU, Fresno State, George Mason, Hartford, Hofstra, Illinois State, Iona, Jacksonville State, Loyola-MD, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Gardner-Webb, Manhattan, Miami-OH, Missouri State, Montana State, Morehead State, Morgan State, North Dakota State, Northeastern, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Pacific, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, St. Peter's, Tennessee Tech, Toledo, UC-Irvine, UC-Riverside, UMBC, Utah State, UW-Green Bay and VCU

Teams Announced For 2009 'Bracket Busters' originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who the Bubble Teams Are Backing, Part 2

Charles Rich — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:08:00 EST

Filed under: Memphis Basketball, George Mason Basketball, Conference USA Basketball, Mid-Majors Basketball, March Madness, Creighton Basketball, MVC Basketball

There seems to be a larger than usual pool of teams across the college basketball landscape from the non-power conferences that could make their own case for an at-large bid. These are some of the conferences that have teams that could pop other teams bubbles if they don't win their conference tournament. Part 1 and Part 3.

Today has the Sun Belt, Atlantic Sun and Patriot League getting their conference tournaments started. Not as much attention will be paid to the Atlantic Sun and the Patriot League, but South Alabama in the Sun Belt will be watched closely.
CAA:
Hope wins: Virginia Commonwealth (43d RPI, 8-2 in last 10, beat Maryland and Houston).
Watch out for: George Mason. 3-1 against the RPI top-50 including beating VCU. They are bracketed opposite VCU and would meet in the CAA Tournament Championship game.

Conference USA:
Hope wins: Memphis (#2 AP Poll, #3 Coaches Poll, 2nd RPI).
Watch out for: UAB. The Blazers are 51st in RPI. They lost 8 games this season, with 5 of them coming in OT or by 5 or less points including a 1 point loss to Memphis. UAB has the talent, with several players who transferred to UAB from power conference schools.

MVC:
Hope wins: Drake (#20 AP Poll, #21 Coaches Poll, 15th RPI) or Illinois St. (36th RPI, 7-3 last 10 games, 4-4 vs. RPI top-50).
Watch out for: Southern Illinois or Creighton. SIU is 48th in RPI and 7-3 in their last 10 games and 12th ranked strength of schedule. Creighton is 50th in RPI and has beaten St. Joe's and DePaul.

Southland:
Hope wins: Stephen F. Austin (57th RPI, 8-2 in the last 10 games, beat Oklahoma and San Diego).
Watch out for: Lamar. First in the Southland Conference, but an RPI of 133.

Who the Bubble Teams Are Backing, Part 2 originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:08:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Terrible Weekend on the Mid-Major Bubble

Josh Alper — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:50:00 EST

Filed under: George Mason Basketball, Mid-Majors Basketball, Creighton Basketball, Davidson Basketball, MVC Basketball

Mid-major basketball fans are frothing at the bit for this weekend's Bracket Buster bonanza. A slew of games pitting the best teams from all over the country, highlighted by Drake and Butler hooking up in Indianapolis. That game should be a doozy but a good part of the fun of this weekend is usually seeing which teams might step up and get at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. I say usually because after this week it's hard to find many teams with chances that look good.

Sure, Drake would get a bid if they suffer an upset in the MVC tourney but there's no way another team from that conference is dancing without an automatic invite. Creighton lost twice this week, including a 87-59 thrashing at Bradley's hands on Saturday. Illinois State, meanwhile, fell at Indiana State. The Redbirds will be a popular choice in the 2008-09 preseason, see sophomore Osiris Eldridge's 34 points in the loss, but they won't factor in this year's postseason. And this year's favorite, Southern Illinois, followed up their win against Drake with their first road win at Wichita State. Too little, too late unless you're looking for the likeliest spoiler in the conference tournament.

It was tough all over the Midwest.

Akron was eliminated from contention with a loss to Northern Illinois early in the week while Ohio's lost three of four, including a 10-point loss to Kent this weekend. The Golden Flashes have secured their bid but if the MAC wants to end their one-team streak someone will need to beat them in the tournament.

Ohio and Akron will be playing George Mason and VCU, respectively, this weekend but those results probably won't matter any more to the CAA teams. VCU's loss to Old Dominion on Saturday isn't an awful one but it is one too many for the Rams to get in the dance through the back door. The Patriots' home loss to UNC-Wilmington isn't any better. GMU has the nonconference resume in order but didn't take care of business in the Colonial and will have to survive what should be a minefield of a conference tournament.

Oral Roberts needed to go unbeaten in the Summit to have any shot at an at-large but lost to IUPUI on Saturday. Davidson's in the same boat, and still unbeaten in the Southern, but if they should stumble before the tournament, it would be hard to make a case for them over a lot of the other teams listed here.

If there is a mid-major worthy of two bids this morning it's probably the Sun Belt. Western Kentucky and South Alabama have dominated league play but their meeting on Thursday will probably decide which of them has a chance at an at-large. If WKU wins, they'll have 12 straight wins and a two-game lead on the Jaguars. If USA wins, it's a sweep of the Hilltoppers and their third top 50 RPI win. So, strangely, if the winner on Thursday loses a rematch in the Sun Belt tournament, it would be the conference's best outcome.

Terrible Weekend on the Mid-Major Bubble originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While Drake Runs Away, Battle for Second MVC Bid Gets Heated

Josh Alper — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:15:00 EST

Filed under: Mid-Majors Basketball, Creighton Basketball, MVC Basketball

If, for some reason, it hasn't crossed your radar screen just yet, the Drake Bulldogs are the best story of the 2007-08 basketball season. They haven't played in the NCAA Tournament since 1971 but are a six-point road loss at St. Mary's away from an undefeated season. They're 11-0 in the Missouri Valley and were led to their latest win by their walk-on point guard Adam Emmenecker, who scored 12 points in his career high high school performance.

Emmenecker had 20, a college career best, and added eight assists yesterday to lead his squad to a comeback win over Indiana State. The Sycamores held a five-point halftime edge but the Bulldogs got back in the game when Emmenecker set up threes on three consecutive possessions at the start of the final 20 minutes. One by Josh Young and two by Leonard Houston was all the Bulldogs needed to get on track for another win. Drake's return to the tournament is all but assured, will they be joined by another conference team, though?

Illinois State had the inside track on the second spot before a 79-73 loss to Drake started them on a three loss in four game stretch. All the losses were roadies but still diminished the luster of another MVC team looking to end a long postseason drought. They recovered to win at Missouri State yesterday, though, and if they can beat Drake in Normal on Tuesday, they'll have restored their place near the front of the at-large line.

Creighton briefly stepped into the bubble picture with five straight wins last month but two losses to Drake and a miserable loss to Southern Illinois dropped them back into the pack. They held off Wichita yesterday but may be out of chances against teams good enough to make a difference to their chances. Northern Iowa beat Southern Illinois yesterday and both of them stand at 6-5 in league as well. Neither one has shown the mettle or ability to reel off a long winning streak that would make them a justifiable tournament choice.

While Illinois State is probably the only team with a chance at mounting a serious at-large run, the wild card in the whole mess are the Bradley Braves. 0-4 to start in conference, they got star guard Daniel Ruffin back on the 23rd when they beat Illinois State. They are now 6-5 in league and bolstered by a nonconference slate that included VCU, Butler, Michigan State and Vanderbilt. They may not be able to do enough to draw an at-large bid but they could be the best suited to knock off Drake in the MVC tourney and steal a seat at the dance.

While Drake Runs Away, Battle for Second MVC Bid Gets Heated originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Creighton Wins Fourth Straight, Can They Retain MVC Crown?

Josh Alper — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:45:00 EST

Filed under: Mid-Majors Basketball, Creighton Basketball, MVC Basketball

Creighton's 9-1 start was quickly forgotten when they opened league play with consecutive losses to Illinois State and Indiana State. It fell even further into history as the Redbirds and Drake kept winning games to pull clear of the rest of the league. Somewhere in the darkness, though, the Bluejays found their way. They beat Northern Iowa 68-59 last night for their fourth straight win.

While none of those wins have come against Illinois State, Drake or Southern Illinois, they can't be discounted. Three of them have come on the road, the Jays have played four of six MVC games away from Omaha, which boosts both their chances in the second half. They'll play seven of the final 12 league games in their building, which should serve them well. As the grind of the nation's toughest defensive conference takes its toll, Creighton can sit home and pick teams off and climb back to the top of the league heap.

That's not a given. Creighton's penchant for turnovers, highest rate in the league, needs to be addressed. They are sound everywhere else, though, and last night's 10-of-24 from three reminds us that all those Jays can shoot the ball. They're very deep, 11 guys average 10 or more minutes, and built well for the long road ahead of them.

The key may be the continued maturation of freshman P'Allen Stinnett. He's got worlds of talent and has settled into a top spot on a team that lost most of last year's minutes. Drake and Illinois State are still in the driver's seat but if Stinnett doesn't hit a wall, Creighton could have the bodies and the game to return to the dance for a second straight year.

Elsewhere in the MVC on Tuesday, Indiana State's return to Earth continued with a 65-44 pasting by Missouri State. What's bad for the Sycamores is probably good for the league, though. So long as ISU was beating potential at-larges like Creighton, the chances for a second MVC team making the field in March weren't very good. The Sycamores weren't going to land a bid, not unless they ran the table in the league, and after they visit Omaha on Saturday it's likely their title dreams will be just that.

Southern Illinois finally won on the road last night. That's a good thing for them but we'll temper our excitement. They beat Evansville 80-67, who have taken on the role of league whipping boy this season. If the Salukis win at Missouri State next week, then there's reason to start taking them seriously again. Nice game from Randal Falker, though. 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists from the lone consistent threat on SIU's roster.

Creighton Wins Fourth Straight, Can They Retain MVC Crown? originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MVC Round Up

Josh Alper — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:20:00 EST

Filed under: Mid-Majors Basketball, Wichita State Basketball, Creighton Basketball, MVC Basketball

I think it's safe to say that the Missouri Valley Conference season isn't playing out as predicted. Southern Illinois , Bradley and Creighton got most of the preseason talk and even though conventional wisdom held that it would be hard to find a second tournament-worthy team after the Salukis, people assumed that there would be quite a fight between those teams.

Reality has proven to be quite different. If SIU doesn't win the tourney, they ain't playing in the postseason, Bradley is 0-3 in conference after losing to Wichita State, which only improved to 1-2. Creighton has the same lackluster mark after squeezing past Missouri State 50-49 yesterday and the teams to watch are Drake, Indiana State and Illinois State.

Illinois State struck the biggest blow yesterday by sending Southern Illinois to another loss, 56-47 at Redbird Arena. Levi Dyer and Osiris Eldridge, two All-MVC candidates who come off the bench for Tim Jankovich, combined to hit seven three-pointers and bury the Salukis. The 'Birds led 31-13 at the half as SIU turned in their customary nightmarish offensive performance. Joshua Bone missed all eight of his shots, the team was 13-of-50 overall and they turned the ball over 21 times in a stomach-turning and all too common display of ineptitude.

In Terre Haute, Larry Bird's alma mater dropped Northern Iowa 74-56 to join Illinois State at 3-0. The Sycamores started the game on a 14-2 run and led by as many as 27 in handing the Panthers their first MVC loss. They did it by shooting the three, 13-of-24, and by getting another complete performance from Gabe Moore. He filled the box score with seven points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals to complement Jay Tunnell's 19 points.

Drake didn't play yesterday, they face Evansville in their shot at 3-0 today and then host the Sycamores on Thursday. That game is looking like a biggie in deciding the regular season champion, but is it too soon to count out the Shockers? They shot 64% from the floor yesterday and beat Bradley 80-73 in Peoria to right their ship a bit. They were down eight at the half to the Braves, who relied on 12 threes for their offense, but held a 38-22 rebounding edge and wore down the home team. The Shockers had such a topsy turvy offseason, with Sean Ogirri transferring and Mark Turgeon leaving, that they may only now be finding themselves. They've got experience in P.J. Cousinard and, if he gets healthy, Mark Braeuer to go with some intriguing newcomers. They could come on strong as the MVC season progresses.

MVC Round Up originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Opening Night in the Missouri Valley

Josh Alper — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Wichita State Basketball, Creighton Basketball, MVC Basketball

The MVC took a hit on Friday night when A.J. Graves' three gave Butler a win in Carbondale but the conference does not exist because of Southern Illinois alone. While SIU's struggles may get attention, the MVC still has a better RPI than any other league that doesn't play in BCS games. That should buoy their hopes of multiple bids come March but, if the first night of conference play is any indication, they may be too closely matched for any teams to stand out. No home teams won on game night one.

The biggest win came in Omaha where Illinois State routed Creighton. The Bluejays felt like a conference favorite but the Redbirds flew much higher in the 80-67 win. They shot 51.9%, had five players in double figures led by Levi Dyer. The backup center hit five threes and finished with 20 points and looks like he's past the off-court troubles that led to his benching. Arrested for DUI, Dyer has worked his way back into good graces and combines with Osiris Eldridge and Anthony Slack to give ISU a deep, balanced attack.

Drake is 10-1 after holding off Wichita State 62-54. The difference came from three, where Drake hit 8-of-21 but the Shockers managed to knock down only three in the same amount of tries. They also missed 15-of-24 free throw attempts in a home loss that offered much doubt about their chances in conference this season.

Northern Iowa held Bradley to nine first-half points and cruised to a 59-48 win. In Evansville, Indiana State got 22 points from Gabriel Moore and rolled to a 70-56 win against the Purple Aces.

Opening Night in the Missouri Valley originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sun, 30 Dec 2007 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eastern Mid Major Post Mortem

Josh Alper — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:24:00 EST

Filed under: A-10 Basketball, Mid-Majors Basketball, Butler Basketball, Creighton Basketball, Davidson Basketball, MVC Basketball

With Christmas in the offing, gifts are on my mind. And when you're talking about college basketball, the most sought after gift is an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Every conference gets its representation but the elusive multiple bid is why teams go out and play all comers in the first two months of the season. It's still too early to know anything for sure but with the nonconference season winding down, I thought we'd take a look at Conference RPI and see who is looking like they're being nice enough for Santa to remember them come March.

Missouri Valley (Conference Rank: 7) - The early season buzz is that the MVC will struggle to get a second team into the tournament but that seems a bit capricious. Creighton has opened the season very strong and Drake sits at 40th overall in RPI but the early struggles of Southern Illinois has lowered expectations for the conference. They had an impressive win against Western Kentucky over the weekend and play Butler in a massive game on Friday. SIU is the only team with the nonconference strength of schedule that raises eyebrows, though. The MVC's quest for a second bid will have a lot to do with how well they play in conference.

Atlantic 10 (CR: 8) - As of right now, anything less than three bids seems like an impossibility. Xavier, Rhode Island, Dayton and UMass are all in the Top 21 of RPI with Duquesne and Temple holding strong within the top 64. Charlotte has shot itself in the foot with losses to Monmouth and Hofstra while Saint Louis has made strides under Rick Majerus but not enough to fill you with confidence in their long term chances. The conference season is going to go badly for at least one of the top six, probably two, but a fourth bid is there for the taking.

Horizon (CR: 9) - Butler's strength is going to make the Horizon a two-team league unless league play goes very badly for Valparaiso and/or Wright State. Both have high RPIs and Wright has played a ridiculously difficult schedule quite well thus far. Valpo looks like the best bet for postseason dancing, mostly because Samuel Haanpaa has made them a deadly shooting team that won't be out of many, if any, games.

Mid-American (CR: 13) - One bid will be all for the MAC. They've been dreadful through the nonconference slate, 58-71, and with Miami and Ohio in the same division, it's hard to imagine a second team being strong enough come the end of the season for the selection committee to hand them a second berth.

Colonial (CR: 14) - They are rated lower than the MAC right now but still have a better chance at a second team. Let's call George Mason the favorite right now which leaves Virginia Commonwealth as the other team with a puncher's chance. Their one bad loss, Hampton, is balanced by wins against Maryland, Houston and Bradley and if they cruise through the conference they'll be in the reckoning.

Metro Atlantic (CR: 15) - Siena's big win against Holy Cross and Niagara's upset of St. John's will matter for seeding but it's one bid for the MAAC.

Sun Belt (CR: 16) - Conference play should be a blast in this well-balanced league especially because South Alabama, Western Kentucky, Arkansas-Little Rock and New Orleans will be fighting for one spot.

Summitt (CR: 18) - If Oral Roberts earns their third trip they'll get a nicer seed after knocking off Oklahoma State.

Southern (CR: 19) - Davidson was the only team that had a chance at the at-large but losing all their big noncons means its win the tournament or go home.

Eastern Mid Major Post Mortem originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:24:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dana Altman is to be Commended

mjd — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:57:00 EST

Filed under: Arkansas Basketball, Mid-Majors Basketball, NCAA Basketball Coaches, Creighton Basketball

If Dana Altman is to be taken at his word (and I'd understand if Arkansas fans don't want to), then the former Creighton, then Arkansas, then Creighton again head coach is a pretty self-aware and stand-up kind of guy.

He took the job at Arkansas, then backed away from it, and went back to Creighton, where they were more than happy to have him back. There are two ways to look at Altman's actions here:

1) He jumped at the money and the higher-profile job, then went back on his word, lying to the Arkansas people, damaging their program (though Arkansas' original decision to fire Stan Heath without a realistic replacement in mind, you could argue, did way more damage) and dragging his own name through the mud.

Or, 2) Dana Altman realized that he made a mistake by valuing money and a higher-profile job over feeling appreciated and loved at Creighton. He reconsidered uprooting his family and then was willing to risk his own reputation and take the inevitable media abuse by admitting his mistake and attempting to fix it.

If you believe Altman (and I see no reason not to, but that's just a general "benefit of the doubt" type of thing, not any concrete evidence I have that Dana Altman is truly a stand-up guy), then it's #2 that's true. I think that's something to be commended, not scorned.

In a moment of weakness, in a desire to sate his own ego, he jumped at a "better" job. But he looked back to Creighton, where he spent 13 years building a more-than-respectable program, he looked at moving his family, he looked at what his heart and his sense of loyalty told him. And with all of that, he decided to own up to a mistake and go back to Creighton, where he knows he has to rebuild some relationships.

That's commendable. Every program should be as lucky as Creighton, to have a coach with that kind of loyalty and commitment.

Dana Altman is to be Commended originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Dana Altman Leaving The Hogs At The Altar?

Nathan Fowler — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:58:00 EST

Filed under: Arkansas Basketball, SEC Basketball, Mid-Majors Basketball, NCAA Basketball Coaches, NCAA Basketball Rumors, Creighton Basketball

FoxSports.com is reporting that former Creighton and soon to be Arkansas head basketball coach Dana Altman is now "pulling a Bobby Cremins" and returning to Creighton, leaving Arkansas yet again without a men's basketball coach. Fox Sports is citing "a pair of industry sources" in their story, and if this is true it's just another bizarre twist in what has been already been one of the stranger offseasons in recent college sports history for both the basketball and football programs at Arkansas.

Altman was supposedly coming to Arkansas with his entire coaching staff and the Creighton Athletic Director (who would have been his Director of Basketball Operations and evident heir to Frank Broyles as the AD at Arkansas), which was alone was a very strange hiring process. Combine that with the earlier public whiffs on Billie Gillispie, Calipari and Bill Self and the firing of a coach who had been to back to back NCAA tournaments without having a superior replacement already lined up, and this hasn't been a hiring process you'll see in any future "how to" guides for running an athletic department. Now you have the 3rd or 4th choice leaving you at the altar and returning to a mid-major? Talk about a public relations disaster for Arkansas.

Much like North Carolina State last year, Arkansas is discovering that recent performance matters much more than old banners hanging in the rafters when coaches are looking at potential destinations, and that there's only a handful of schools in the country who can just open their head coaching jobs up and pick and choose who they want. Like North Carolina State, Arkansas is a good job. It's not a great job, and it's obviously not as good as the fans seem to believe it is (you'll see Arkansas fans say it's a "top 10 job" - well, obviously the coaching community doesn't feel the same way). It shouldn't have come to this though, it's becoming more and more apparent that the Arkansas Athletic Department is just a mess - this hiring process is just yet another part of a laundry list of mishandled and mismanaged events in recent years in Fayetteville.

Is Dana Altman Leaving The Hogs At The Altar? originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Arkansas Lands Altman

Charles Rich — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 10:59:00 EST

Filed under: Arkansas Basketball, SEC Basketball, Mid-Majors Basketball, NCAA Basketball Coaches, Arkansas, Creighton Basketball

This is a stunner. Dana Altman, the long time Creighton Blue Jays head coach, is taking the Arkansas job.

Creighton's Dana Altman has accepted the Arkansas job and will be introduced at a 5 p.m. ET news conference this afternoon, according to multiple sources close to the situation.

Altman, 48, has built a power at Creighton for the past 13 seasons. He led the Bluejays to a 260-141 mark in his tenure. Creighton lost to Nevada in the first round of the NCAA tournament this past season.

This is a surprise, in part because Altman has resisted plenty of offers before this. It was also believed that he was very comfortable in Omaha. Most thought he might consider the Iowa job, but this is a late development.

Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles had been reportedly talking to Altman. Of course, he had also talked to John Calipari and apparently Bruce Weber of Illinois this weekend.

Landing Altman may not be the homerun Arkansas was looking for, but Altman is at least a solid double. One of the top mid-major coaches for years who has shown continued success and built Creighton into the top team in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Arkansas Lands Altman originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 02 Apr 2007 10:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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