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[krindor]

This is a proposal from a few people that has no legs…

I could make a similar proposal in 24 hours that would be just as good or better and have about the same likelihood of actually happening. Not sure it’s worth getting too wrapped around the axle in how divisions are distributed in somebody’s fantasy

[krindor]

I’ve looked at a bunch of 7 round mocks. They all have Elliss, Bishop, Vaki going and I’m pretty sure they all have Laumea as well. Bills I’ve seen in some but not in others and I’ve also seen Vele in a few.

Given that 5 doesn’t seem unreasonable. 3 (or really 4) is the floor and 6 is the ceiling, though I doubt we hit that

[krindor]

Note that this article isn’t predicting seeds, but teams best positioned to make the playoff (regardless of seed). Liberty is #5 because of their likely easier path for a G5 bid, not because they will be the #5 seed

[krindor]

Based on TV ratings from the last 5 years of the 70 P5 teams and 13 other G5s of note (Army, Navy, Air Force, Memphis, Boise St, UTSA, USF, UNLV, Tulane, SDSU, Colorado St, UConn, Fresno St)…..

Rutgers ranks #75 in television viewership score. Out of 83 total

[krindor]

BYU options are very limited by effectively requiring that the coach be LDS with temple recommend. And there’s a few potential NBA options, but noise is that BYU wants guys from the college game.

So that basically narrows it down to

1. Mark Madsen: Likely the top choice, but has a huge buyout (and we know how fiscally conservative BYU is) and just put out a tweet saying he’s committed to Cal (guessing timing on that isn’t a coincidence)
2. Chris Burgess: Probably the #2 choice, his big strength is recruiting and connections inside the state…which is great given that Utah is producing some high quality recruits in recent years. He’s also (by virtue of having recently been there) the best bet at retaining as much of the BYU core as possible, including Collin Chandler (the highest rated recruit in BYU history and from a family that supports Utah). If Burgess isn’t hired, there’s a real chance Chandler flips to Utah or even Kentucky
3. Bareet Peery: Currently an assistant at UNLV, he’s less connected to the program and players than Burgess and is probably the third option as a result. He does have the advantage of having been a head coach (at Portland St, but still more than Burgess) and has been an assistant at Utah, Arizona St, Texas Tech, and UNLV so lots of experience. Downside is the aforementioned lack of continuity and that he’s also nearly a decade older than Burgess

After those three, you get into really unlikely options – NBA Video Coordinators, non-LDS options, local high school coaches.

So if Madsen is out (which it sounds from his tweet that he is), then Burgess is probably the favorite. And if he’s offered the HC job (and a large raise), it’s extremely unlikely Burgess would turn it down (nor should he). So it’s not that there’s any reporting that it IS happening, more just reading the tea leaves to see that it’s very likely to happen

[krindor]

This became much more likely after Scott Drew turned the job down in a pretty public way.

Don’t get me wrong, Pope is a good coach, but Kentucky absolutely had their sights set higher for someone with a bigger name and more postseason success.

But after publicly being turned down by Pats, Donovan, Drew and others, they needed to make a hire and couldn’t take any more damage to their status by having more big names not be interested. So they had to recalibrate, stop focusing on pizzazz and moonshots and get the safe option (who as mentioned, is also a very good coach, just not as exciting as they would have liked)

[krindor]

I think the issue is that NIL doesn’t just represent $$$ (which everyone wants), but also commitment and feeling valued.

It’s not as clear-cut as professional athletes (who often have more $ than they could ever use, but want the respect/credit with a huge contract), but I do think (for many) a big NIL deal is also a proxy for “how much do you want me” and “how important am I to your plans”

[krindor]

….Guessing you didn’t read the article that was written by people who get paid to analyse this

The only short-term concern is [Rising’s] health, especially after Utah lost veteran backup and 2023 starter Bryson Barnes to the transfer portal, along with Mack Howard and former ESPN top-100 recruit Nate Johnson.

Sophomore Brandon Rose enters his third season in the program, but has yet to see the field in a game after taking a medical redshirt in 2023 because of an injury in a preseason scrimmage. Rose might have secured the backup spot last season if not for the injury.

Utah’s long-term outlook appears solid with Isaac Wilson, an ESPN four-star prospect, already enrolled and set for spring practice. The team also has a 2025 commitment from ESPN 300 recruit Wyatt Becker

…so they’re seeing the same concerns about Rising’s health…but they don’t seem to dislike Rose as much as you do.

If Rose is a poor option, then yeah, I wouldn’t be shocked to see another QB transfer in. But it’ll inevitably be someone worse than Rising. There’s always a starter-to-backup dropoff if you’re not Georgia, Ohio St, maybe USC, Texas or a few others. Most schools simply don’t have elite backups

[krindor]

Yeah, I mean ESPN ranked Utah as having the 14th best QB situation in college football. https://www.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/39670797/college-football-future-power-rankings-quarterbacks

14th! That means there are (if my math is correct) 13 teams with better QB situations than us. What trash, can’t believe we’d fail so utterly, dropping behind programs like Florida St, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio St and the like. Absolutely unacceptable that we’re not #1.

(all of this is TIC, in case anyone missed it)

[krindor]

Even if he had an itch to get back into coaching, it’s tough to see him coming to Utah.

For example, he’s from Indiana, his wife is from Indiana, he coached in the state (Butler), his dad played football for Indiana, and his son just committed to play basketball in Indiana (Notre Dame).

And as it turns out, Indiana (a marquee basketball school with a great history) just missed the NCAA tournament in a downer of a season with their third-year head coach. Given that the two programs (Utah and Indiana) are in almost the same place right now, except that Indiana has B1G money and tons of personal connections for him, it’s unlikely that Stevens would end up at Utah even if he does want to get back into coaching