(04-04-2018 06:26 AM)Hokie4Skins Wrote: Serious, non-snarky question: Is there a worse job in the P5 + Big East + AAC than ECU?
Hmm...
Tulane is kind of a scary job - but the school has recently built an on-campus basketball facility and updated the small arena. The problem at Tulane is that Cincy, Memphis, Houston, WSU, and UConn are all in your conference. Investment alone is not enough - Tulane would have to return to the 1980s if they want to win. The expectations are realistic, however - if you don't royally suck then you keep your job. IF you manage to churn some NIT berths with the occasional NCAA showing you will be remembered for decades by alumni.
Boston College sounds appealing (good metro, decent tradition, elite conference), but they are not a big program per ACC standards... ...and holy *$%^ are there a lot of top-end programs between BC and a strong ACC finish.
Northwestern is not as bad as you'd think if you add up all the factors. B1G is pretty deep, though - and they really were a nightmare for a long damn time.
DePaul was once good (1980s-1990s) and in is a LOVELY recruiting area. The problem is that the conference is ridiculous, and DePaul isn't exactly super-rich when compared to other good Big East teams. It's a super duper high-risk job - but if you somehow manage to consistently win you are a legend. I imagine that if you take this job there will be a bit of rope - which is good.
Penn State is actually a poor hoops job in that you really don't "matter". It's a football school, and you'd have to go on a silly run to garner long-term attention. PSU has a number of rather stupid losses over the years, but they do have money IF they want to be good at squeaky shoes...
All five jobs have wonderfully high ceilings, but they are all so freaking risky that they are trap jobs.