Is Oklahoma cooked as a program?

[Boom Soon]

We're not "cooked" as a program, but I do have one frightening thought. Let's say there was an internet poll with this question: "Which Power school football fan base would be most likely to approve reallocating ALL basketball NIL money toward football?" I'm scared to ask this, but would Oklahoma win?

Very good question. I think a lot of “basketball schools” absolutely would become football schools if they had the opportunity. Arkansas comes to mind

 

[Eielson]

Lolol

"In Moser's tenure, the Redbirds were never higher than the No. 6 seed at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and finished as the No. 10 seed twice. In league play, the Redbirds compiled a 22-50 (.306) mark in Valley games under Moser - the lowest four-year mark since Illinois State joined the conference in 1981."

IT'S THE EXACT SAME STUFF

To be fair, they won 8 games the year prior to him taking over, and were projected highly going into the season after he was fired. Jankovic took over his roster and had a 25 win season. You could say it's better X's and O's, but Jankovic got worse every year and is no longer in coaching, so hard to argue he didn't benefit from Moser's roster.

This stop hasn't worked out at all, but it'll be the first program he left in a worse state than he inherited in.

Based on the lack of results despite talent this year, I don't think there's a scenario where Moser would have knocked it out of the park, but I do wonder if he'd have done better in an era without the transfer portal and NIL. Previously, guys like Oweh and Uzan wouldn't have been able to leave as easily.

Some people like to mock the importance of culture, citing it as irrelevant, but unlike football, nobody actually stays in basketball. Most of our players and coaches stay for one year, and we're lucky to get two. Some coaches don't even last a full season. Nobody is staying 3-4 years like football or in his previous stops.

I'd actually argue that the complete lack of culture is a big part of what doomed Moser. To be fair, I don't know if any basketball guys can keep players around without the type of money we utilize in football. Moving forward, the emphasis has to be on finding a guy that can implement things with a completely flipped over roster every year. 3-4 year development plans won't work.

 

[AnotherSoonerInTX]

We're not "cooked" as a program, but I do have one frightening thought. Let's say there was an internet poll with this question: "Which Power school football fan base would be most likely to approve reallocating ALL basketball NIL money toward football?" I'm scared to ask this, but would Oklahoma win?

Ohio State might give us a run for our money on that...but I'm sure their basketball attendance is bigger than ours. Their fan base is bigger.

 

[AnotherSoonerInTX]

Very good question. I think a lot of “basketball schools” absolutely would become football schools if they had the opportunity. Arkansas comes to mind

Indiana is doing that as we speak. They haven't won a hoops NC since 1987, and they haven't been to a Final Four since they beat us in 2002. They're still considered a blueblood in basketball, though that's more like Nebraska's status in football: past glory. They are favored to win a football NC tomorrow night.

 

[AnotherSoonerInTX]

I think people understate the disappointment and damage done immediately following the Final Four team. I’m not absolving Moser at all. If you coach for five years at a P5 school and make the tourney once with a very poor overall conf record, you aren’t doing a good job, period. But to follow up the F4 when you have some real momentum with five underwhelming/kinda boring/underperforming teams, it has residual effects. The mass exodus of fans began prior to Moser.

I truly view the Lon years in two parts… the first part was excellent. The exact type of ascension you want to see. The second part was not good, and it left the program in a bit of a weird spot. Almost completely out of the consciousness. Then, it appears we hired the wrong guy to set it all straight.

I agree with premise of the post… 10 years matters. It’s too long to just now assume it can be easily rekindled.

I cannot describe how much we left on the floor in Houston 10 years ago with the 40 point blowout at the Final Four. It's as if all of the program's momentum went away that day.