Out-of-conference scheduling in college sports is never simple. With no single governing body in charge of matchups, teams individually plan out arrangements while all negotiating in personal interest. It’s hardest on mid-majors, especially when it comes to trying to coax power-conference teams onto campus, and then smaller teams end up with few impressive pelts to show the March Madness committee, as NCAA snub Illinois State dealt with on Sunday.
Snubbed March Madness coach tweeted a challenge to potential opponents, and it worked
See? Social media is good for you.
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
ISU head coach Dan Muller — excuse me, NIT 1 seed head coach Dan Muller — took to Twitter to try and fill out the Redbirds’ schedule for next year, cc:-ing the six big leagues in the process, four of which got one team each into the NCAA’s last four spots.
A few hours later, ISU had a match with one of the SEC’s most consistently decent programs and a team not all that far away on the map.
And it might already be just about a done deal:
The Redbirds finished with a 27-6 record, an RPI ranking of 33, and a No. 51 ranking in Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, but only faced one Power 6 team, in a nine-point loss at KenPom No. 41 TCU.
Muller, via the Chicago Tribune: “It is idiotic to me. What the committee is asking for is not possible sometimes. Our staff probably called 25 of the schools that made it to see if they would play us. What do they want us to do?”
Seems like Muller’s found the answer on his own: tweet through it. Now to actually win.
(Also, football fans, please note this means Ole Miss might be playing both Dan Mullen and Dan Muller next season.)
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