[the sophomore and junior classes do have significant (at the 90% confidence level, at least) positive effects on F/+.]

Below is a link to an article evaluating the effect of recruiting on college football teams, specifically addressing the question "how long does it take for recruiting to have an effect".  Here is a quote:

This model shows a clear lagged effect for high school recruiting. The freshman recruiting class has no statistically significant relationship with F/+, but the sophomore and junior classes do have significant (at the 90% confidence level, at least) positive effects on F/+.

"F/+" is a rating of college football teams (link in the article describes if anyone is really interested).  He is just saying what we probably all instinctively know...that one good recruiting year is not going to make a huge difference right away.  The reasons why are fairly obvious...most freshman football players have to have time to develop, though this is true than it used to be.  More important, there are 22 starting positions on a football team and you can't just have frosh, even a class as large and deep as ours, just step into all those positions. 

It's interesting because I don't know anyone who expects us to suddenly have a good season next year due to this one recruiting class, but most say 2015 should be better....here is some statistical analysis that says that confirms it using a mathematical/statistical model.  Again, I don't think anyone expects us to be so great next year, but here is at least one indication that we are right to have higher expectations for 2015.

And while I am at it, Butch is off to a great on the 2015 class as well...if he just keeps that up, good things are coming. 


http://harvardsportsanalysis.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/analyzing-the-lagged-effect-of-college-football-recruiting/

I will be leaving the office at 11:30 today as usual on Friday. I will not rest until I can post the usual Thursday reminder. Or even better, no reminder at all.

Thank you. That is all. Carry on.

I'm not going in to the office at all today...so BITE ME!   

Didn't I read a tweet from Stokes that he is going to enter the draft?

I don't know, did you?   

[$105]

At $105 a ticket!

Wow, that's ridiculous

BDV...we are not so far apart.  My main point is it's only been two years with Holly.  

Palardy's 40 was faster than Eric Gordons. He was faster than our entire secondary in 2012.

That's just mind boggling.

So why wasn't he a DB?    

Great hire by La Tech. My understanding is they've been tracking him, and he's going to get all the support he needs. Hopefully he does well. AND COMES TO UT ONE DAY

FIFY   

That's far enough out it doesn't bother me, but I am tired in near term of playing the likes of Oregon and OU on the road while the great majority of the SEC plays nothing but patsies.

But I guess WVU at a neutral location is nowhere near as bad as OU in Norman...

Then the coach decides that he will try to get a job at another school. Obviously he either doesn't want to be at UT or he figures that he should get out while the getting is good. Or both.

The original reporting on Martin interviewing at Marquette said that they approached him, not the other way around.  Maybe they turned him down, maybe he rejected them, who knows...I think it's more likely he didn't like what he saw and that Hart was telling him good things.

As for leverage, he has less now sure.  But I am not sure a long contract extension and/or raise are justified anyway.

Overall, the situation may just work out for the best...a relatively small contract extension and modest raise seem about right to me.

Maybe Stokes stays, maybe we get Rhett (whoever that is, lol, but lots of tweets about him) and Hubbs will be healthy so maybe next year won't be a total disaster either.

Marquette would have been more money, not less, and not just for Cuonzo's salary-- their basketball budget is larger than ours, and their facilities are good. Combine that with its location in the midwest and this is a job that Cuonzo should have wanted and probably did want.

How is sharing an arena with an nba team bettet than thompson boling?  And in spite of his otherwise incompetant tenure Hamilton did build nice facilities.  I habe no idea what Marquettes practice facility is like but I am confident its not better than ours.

In speaking of money I am talking about overall AD budget.  UT runs around 100 M.  I cant say what Marquette has but I am positive its far less than that.  In other words just more total resources.


As for the money he is.paid I addressed that.  I have read tha money diesnt drive him...ill try to find the source.

Also since Marquette is private they are not required to publish their AD and bball budget but maybe they do so volutarily. 

I only compared the HD Offerings and that is what I was looking at and DirecTV outdoes Dish on every shape form and fashion....look at the Sports HD alone and they have every Sports regional Fox in HD and usually alternates as well.....Dish does not let you get all the Fox Sports channels....that I am sure of because a guy I worked with had Dish and I asked him if Dish had all the Sports channels and he said NO they did not.....overall the amount I pay with almost every channel on DirecTV is less than what Dish would charge me....I know I did a strict price comparison after the initial deals wear off.....

Plus I can truthfully say I can point my dish at a football tailgate in about thirty seconds and have it operational it takes some of those Dish tailgaters something like ten minutes to get theirs pointed..... (just saying)

We probably just have different tastes in channels.  But beyond that, it depends on the package you get.  I took their top package (which is unusual for me cause I am a tightass lol) but I got such a good deal the first year that it didn't really cost that much...AND it included every single premium channel for 3 months completely free.

Dish does have all the networks such as Big Ten, Pac 10, etc, and I made sure they had sports south, which long ago my cable provider didn't have (though Direct had it).  So there are plenty of sports channels...I get NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Soccer, Tennis, Golf, and other more obscure sports that I can't even remember.

Anyway, I don't think Gregg can go wrong either way.  My advice is that he check both very carefully and just pick the one that suits him best.

It's sounding to me like Wojo was their man instead of Cuonzo, and this wasn't Cuonzo "backing out." And if that's the case, he has very little bargaining power for an extension and raise at UT. He may have screwed himself pretty badly.

Just putting myself in Martin's shoes and looking at the situation at Marquette (much less money, much worse facilities, lower visibility conference) I would have backed out also.  He already has a relatively high profile job at a major with (in spite of recent difficulties ) far more $$ than Marquette) and superior facilities.  But of course that's just speculation.

But to speculate further, I can see a situation like Marquette being more appealing to an assistant than someone who already has a pretty good HC situation like Martin.

I agree that he could have played it closer to the vest for leverage.  But it's possible that Hart has already offered more, it's possible his name could come up elsewhere, and it's possible that he really doesn't care that much about a raise.  Cancer survivors can be funny that way...

If you're referring to Pat's final 4-5 seasons, you're right. 

Not just that, but I was mostly referring to not making the Final Four from 92-94 and also not being able to win it from 1999-2007.  During that last phase, we did make the Final three times and the FF a couple other times, so maybe that wasn't really a large decline, but there was a question as to whether UT could ever win it again.  But definitely there were some ups and downs in Pat's tenure...

 

I see a program that is declining a bit more with each passing season.  Six years without a Final Four?  At Tennessee?   How is that acceptable?  We can justify it by saying things like "we still won the SEC", or "we're still a #1 seed".  In a few years at this rate, we'll be saying "We're still in the top 25" or "We still make the NCAA tourney every year".  Before you know it, we're Louisiana Tech.  Don't bury your head in the sand- this is exactly how their decline began, and today they are a non-factor in this sport.  I don't want to join them in the "where are they now" file, but that's what I see happening unless something changes.

We are on the same page here.  I am saying, looking back at the last 6 years, I don't see a "decline" as much as I see a drop off after the 2008 championship, which as you point out above happened under Pat.  I agree that the drop off was obviously influenced by Pat's health (but starting when?). 

The question I have is, has Holly done worse than Pat in her last four years?  And the answer is a resounding no.  Pat actually got knocked out in the first round in 2009...the only time that has ever happened.  In 2010 we made the Sweet Sixteen, then in 2011 and 2012 we made the Elite Eight. 

Holly has only had two years...(!)...and in those two years we made the Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen.  So apparently the only thing to point to in terms of "decline" from the last four years of Pat's tenure is this year's tourney game.

That's an awful lot to point to and say Holly is doing worse than Pat at the end of her career.  Long term, does the prospect of having a ceiling of Elite Eight alternating with Sweet Sixteen appeal to me?  Absolutely not.

But two years in, I don't see any evidence of a decline...at all...from the last years of Pat's tenure (and was her health that bad in 2009?).  The key is that Holly so far has maintained what she inherited.

If Holly keeps us at this level even for a few more years...that's the acceptable level for me.  Eventually, she will have to start making Final Fours...I have no idea if she will or not.  But my expectations is for her to at least maintain the program where she found it (which I think so far she has!) and then to improve it.  The second part may or may not happen...but if it doesn't, she might eventually have a really bad year and that's when this conversation becomes relevant.  IMO....

Hmmmm................. One might think Hart stood up.

I have no idea why, but I get a gut feeling that it's just not about the $$$ with CCM. I'm probably wrong because he's at a point where he can be secure for his family, I just have a gut feeling on this that he want's to................ never mind.


G

Someone tweeted or blogged that yesterday...that he doesn't seem to be about money.  Don't recall who though.

As for the Marquette job...I saw a tweet last night with the following information:

Marquette is purely a basketball school, thus all their revenue is from the men's basketball team (ie...less $$$)

Marquette shares facilities with the NBA Bucks (ie...worse facilities)

Marquette plays in the Big East, which is a shadow of it's former self (ie...less visibility and exposure, softer schedule)


I would credit the tweet, but I don't remember who it was...maybe Patrick Brown.  Words in parens are my interpretation.

Buzz Williams just left VOLUNTARILY for Virginia Tech (though he might have been about to be fired, I don't know).  Is VTI a step up from Marquette?

Additionally the Marquette AD is rumored to be a "circus" behind the scenes, one that might make even our situation look good by contrast.   

Bottom line...Marquette isn't that great of a destination.  Thus I can believe that Cuonzo just said "no thanks", especially if Hart told him he would get an extension or raise.

Who knows...but my guess is Martin just didn't want to go from the frying pan into the fire.

Bandit, I have to TOTALLY disagree with you on this point! I lived in Knoxville for 20 years and have listened to JP for a long time. I really find him to have tremendous insight and I think he can match wits with anyone intellectually.

We'll see what happens. I just spoke because I don't think you are being fair-minded about John and that's out-of-sorts for you. Not diggin' at you, but I have to disagree here. Hope you take it as just a disgruntled................. fill in the blank.



GreggO

I'm really just repeating what others have said of him.  I have seen him be cranky a couple times, and he does seem to take shots at the University, but I have probably only read 4 articles of his.  So I am just saying what I hear others say...he seems to be disliked.

A better way to say it would have been "he MAY BE a &$^^$".  You are right to call me on this, because I am really just repeating what I thought was a majority opinion.  Believe it or not, I am glad to see a dissenting opinion on this, because if he's just a guy that "tells it like it is" and gets disliked as a result, then maybe he's not so bad.

This ner fengled terchnolergy is perty gud   

Doesn't mean he won't go somewhere else, but I expect a nice raise and an extension.

I thought he had only one year left, but apparently it's two...maybe a two year extension?

I just happened to check Twitter and it hit about 3 minutes ago

(3)  DirecTV HD offerings exceed Dish's HD Offerings (nummber of channels)  -- check it out.  Dish is still getting them all on their satellites.

This one is not true in my experience.  When I switched, both Dish and Direct had four basic pricing plans, not counting premium channels or sports packages.  I compared them very carefully.

For every package, Dish had more channels AND cost less.  It was a no brainer from that perspective.  Or at any rate, Dish had more of the channels that I cared about, and that's all that really mattered.

You may be comparing the top Direct pacakge to the second best Dish package I don't know.

But Gregg should do his own research and make up his own mind.   

BDV...I don't think the decline is as deep as you suggest.  Deserved or not, we were a no. 1 seed in the tourney.  You literally can't do better than that, although I guess there is an "overall no. 1" technically speaking.

Performance in the tourney is something else, and this year we suxed against Maryland.  And yes, not  having even a single Final Four appearance matters.

But we are hardly irrelevant yet.  Firing Holly prematurely could well make us so though.

Having said that, I don't follow women's basketball that closely enough to do more than look at the postseason results.  But speaking of which, Pat went through a long dry spell herself.

My opinion is that Holly is doing well enough for now.  If there are signs of additional decline in the coming years, then is when this conversation becomes relevant...IMO.

In fine UT fashion we will go the cheap route...hire a coach from Southeast Dakota State with a .500 career record who has little upside but has PROMISE!!

It's the UT way!!

Does he also have a famous Daddy? 

What is Bobby Knight's son's record at Tejas Tech???   

On a more serious note, it was HAMILTON who was a cheap bastard.  Hart I think has more sense.  I hope we don't have to find out because I don't want a coach who finally accomplished something to leave right after doing it.

But we will see...

I don't find what he says about Hart being "not willing to cough up big cash for a man they were ready to fire" credible.

Hart may well have fired Cuonzo if we didn't make the tourney, but that is not known with any certainty.  But that's not the part I am talking about.  Just from the way Hart hugged Cuonzo after the Iowa win, I am pretty sure he is willing to give Martin more money and an extension now.  Yeah, I know, it's just one isolated incident, but I think the fact that he did that says he was in Cuonzo's corner all along and wanted him to succeed.   Hart strikes me as the careful calculating time that is not prone to making rash decisions...and clearly a coach in place succeeding is ALWAYS going to make an ADs job easier.

As for the rest of it, JP doesn't really state directly that "Cuonzo is leaving because of Tennesee fans". 

He does point out the petition and expression of disinterest by many fans factor into Martin's decision.   All of which is fair, because it's true.

JP IS a pr@ck who seems to hate UT...I will grant you that.   

A10:  3-6, out of tourney;     
Pac 12:  8-6, out of tourney; 
ACC:  6-6, out of tourney; 
Big East:  2-4, out of tourney, 
Big 10:  10-5, Wisc left; 
SEC:  11-1, Fla & Ky left; 
AAC:  7-3, UConn left; 
Big 12:  6-7, out of tourney; 
Mtn West:  2-2, out of tourney; 
West Coast:  1-2, out of tourney

Got this from TOS

Yeah.  Did the Atlantic 10, for instance,  REALLY deserve six slots?

Of course, for some of these smaller mid-major conferences the tourney is probably their largest source of revenue, and of course many of the lower seeds are reserved for them as a matter of deliberate policy...but even factoring that in...SIX teams?

You can't tell me that UGa or Arkansas wasn't as good as at least one of these...

Saint Louis   13-3   27-7
Virginia Commonwealth   12-4   26-9
George Washington   11-5   24-9
Saint Joseph's   11-5   24-10
Massachusetts   10-6   24-9
Dayton   10-6   26-11

Then again, Dayton was probably the team to be left out, and they had a nice run, so....

Vinnie, I agree I like BD can't stand C.  

BD has integrity...C wouldn't know integrity if it hit him in the face, and I wish it would.   

UConn and Wisc....LOL!   You can't make that up.

I expect the gators to handle UConn.  UConn has upset Villanova and Iowa State, but Villanova played a really soft schedule and was overated while Iowa State lost one of their best players in the first round.