As the 135th-best team in America, Tennessee’s Vols weren’t even within hollering distance of the NCAA tournament. With an 11-16 record, they couldn’t even draw passing sniffs from the NIT. But coach Kevin O’Neill, resourceful fellow that he is, found a way to be part of March Madness anyhow. He became infected with it.
At least that’s been the nearly unanimous assessment of the local punditry, who have issued a collective snort as they suggested that O’Neill is nuttier than a road lizard for resigning his place in that little patch of heaven the rest of us know as the UT Athletic Department. On Tuesday, O’Neill bolted for Northwestern after playing a prolonged game of Chicken with UT athletic director Doug Dickey, who first talked as if he obligingly gave directions to the screen door, but who ultimately brought Pat Summitt in for a come-to-Jesus meeting to help persuade the men’s coach to stay.
The way the received wisdom had it, O’Neill—who has been in a snit over UT’s refusal to allow a star recruit to play this season—couldn’t possibly be so many bubbles off plumb as to trade Knoxville for Northwestern (Northwestern?!). Of course, in making that argument, the media geniuses had to overlook all those other times they had already diagnosed O’Neill as certifiably nuts.
All valid questions about the coach’s past eccentricities aside, however, O’Neill’s abrupt exit this week makes perfectly reasonable sense when you look at it from just the right angle.
Of course, anyone who presumes to know what’s flitting along the synapses of Kevin’s rambunctious brain at any given moment is either more outrageously daring than Evel Knievel or has concluded some sort of bargain with Satan. But at the risk of stepping over into the Outer Limits, here are a few of the pros and cons that may have duked it out in O’Neill’s brain:
After recruiting so much talent to play basketball in Knoxville, O’Neill might be insane to leave, in spite of UT’s current miseries. (One of the nation’s best point guards, from Memphis, arrives this fall.)
Then again, O’Neill might have noticed that, even though Vol fans were fretting about a possible departure last week, he wasn’t the focus of their concern. All the hoo-de-doo over Peyton Manning’s career move provided a sobering reminder that football rules at UT, even in March. The same is true at Alabama, Auburn, and Florida—which helps explain why the far-from-loopy Lon Kruger bolted for Illinois soon after taking the Gators to the Final Four.
Of course, Tennessee boasts a 25,000-seat facility. Then again, that’s part of the problem: The only way Vol fans may ever fill their mammoth cave is if the aforementioned football team joins the arena league.
Of course, at Northwestern, O’Neill inherits a rebuilding job that would scare the yips out of Michael Jackson’s plastic surgeon. Then again, the school has renewed its commitment to athletics, and $500,000 a year makes remodeling seem a lot more fun. Besides, Chicago is a more fertile recruiting ground than Rocky Top, and O’Neill already knows the territory.
In leaving, O’Neill may risk developing a reputation as a kid who doesn’t play well with others. But another scenario looms perhaps even larger: Instead of questioning the former coach’s sanity, UT folks may start wondering about their athletic director.
How it looks from the La-Z-Boy (NCAA Tournament Edition) For amusement purposes only
East Regional. First Round: North Carolina over Fairfield; Indiana over Colorado; California over Princeton; Villanova over Long Island; Massachusetts over Louisville; New Mexico over Old Dominion; Texas over Wisconsin; South Carolina over Coppin St. Second Round: North Carolina over Indiana; California over Villanova; Massachusetts over New Mexico; South Carolina over Texas. Sweet 16: North Carolina over California; South Carolina over Massachusetts. Regional Final: South Carolina over North Carolina.
Midwest Regional. First Round: Minnesota over Southwest Texas; Temple over Mississippi; Tulsa over Boston U.; Miami (Ohio) over Clemson; Iowa St. over Illinois St.; Cincinnati over Butler; Xavier over Vanderbilt; UCLA over Charleston Southern. Second Round: Temple over Minnesota; Tulsa over Miami (Ohio); Cincinnati over Iowa St.; UCLA over Xavier. Sweet 16: Tulsa over Temple; UCLA over Cincinnati. Regional Final: UCLA over Tulsa.
Southeast Regional. First Round: Kansas over Jackson St.; Rhode Island over Purdue; Maryland over Charleston; South Alabama over Arizona; Illinois over USC; Georgia over UT-Chattanooga; Marquette over Providence; Duke over Murray St. Second Round: Kansas over Rhode Island; Maryland over South Alabama; Georgia over Illinois; Duke over Marquette. Sweet 16: Kansas over Maryland; Duke over Georgia. Regional Final: Kansas over Duke.
West Regional. First Round: Kentucky over Montana; Iowa over Virginia; Boston College over Valparaiso; St. Joseph’s over Pacific; Oklahoma over Stanford; Wake Forest over St. Mary’s; Georgetown over NC-Charlotte; Utah over Navy. Second Round: Kentucky over Iowa; St. Joseph’s over Boston College; Wake Forest over Oklahoma; Utah over Georgetown. Sweet 16: Kentucky over St. Joseph’s; Wake Forest over Utah. Regional Final: Kentucky over Wake Forest.
Final Four: Kansas over South Carolina; UCLA over Kentucky. Championship: Kansas over UCLA.
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