[botech]

Maybe it's because I live and work in the Santa Barbara area, but I always liked Ben Howland. He's not the next John Wooden--UCLA fired him after he won the conference (but flamed out in the first round of the NCAA tournament)--but he knows how to turn around a program.

Howland isn't moving anytime soon. He just got himself a farm outside of StarkVegas and he's pretty much settled down. As long as he wins the proper amount of games, keeps his nose clean and beats Kentucky ever so often he can have a job for life. To Mississippi State, he's a very valuable asset.

It parallels somewhat to another Pac-8 coach who roamed into Starkville back in the early 80's. Bob Boyd coached the Bulldogs for a number of years and is endeared. Two of his assistants actually went on to coach their respective teams into the Final Four. I always remember him as the one who handed John Wooden his first loss in Pauley Pavilion, in fact he did it twice in back to back years 69 and 70. His 1969 team played in that infamous stall game where they played the Bruins on back-to-back days at the end of the year. They played at the Sports Arena, then at Pauley. Boyd held the ball that first night and then put in deep freeze at Pauley the following night and won. Wooden said Boyd was the better coach that evening.

[botech]

Maybe it's because I live and work in the Santa Barbara area, but I always liked Ben Howland. He's not the next John Wooden--UCLA fired him after he won the conference (but flamed out in the first round of the NCAA tournament)--but he knows how to turn around a program.

Howland isn't moving anytime soon. He just got himself a farm outside of StarkVegas and he's pretty much settled down. As long as he wins the proper amount of games, keeps his nose clean and beats Kentucky ever so often he can have a job for life. To Mississippi State, he's a very valuable asset.

It parallels somewhat to another Pac-8 coach who roamed into Starkville back in the early 80's. Bob Boyd coached the Bulldogs for a number of years and is endeared. Two of his assistants actually went on to coach their respective teams into the Final Four. I always remember him as the one who handed John Wooden his first loss in Pauley Pavilion, in fact he did it twice in back to back years 69 and 70. His 1969 team played in that infamous stall game where they played the Bruins on back-to-back days at the end of the year. They played at the Sports Arena, then at Pauley. Boyd held the ball that first night and then put in deep freeze at Pauley the following night and won. Wooden said Boyd was the better coach that evening.