well we find out a little more about Coach Moser's squad as they have North Carolina coming up on Wednesday.

Good game between OU and UNC last night.

OU kept it close'ish and got within 4 with 3 or 4 mins left but UNC too much to handle. OU defense was very poor, though I don't feel wowed either from UNC.

OU has some dawgs. This looks like an atypical Porter team.

Now OU will get sent back to reality, and a few more losses to the elites won't be a surprise.

Nice heartwarming moment in the handshake line, which I was glad espn broadcast was able to catch before sending to the next game. Paxson and Coach embraced and hugged a big one.

Lots to be said about Coach Moser ..but he was genuine...and real.

Not sure who else has been following them from afar or closely.

OU drops out of the top 25 this week.

Losses in 4 of last 6. 3-4 in conference play. Schedule does not get any friendlier.

No top 25 wins on the year except when USC was ranked in mid November. They stink also now. Bad.

Obviously wishing for success, but that #10 ranking just the other week seemed too good to be true.

Interesting quote from the other day: “These guys care, and this is not a broken locker room. This is a locker room that is hurting right now. We didn’t get it done, but it isn’t because we have a fractured locker room.”

One thing that’s obvious about OU, is not a single guy there yet is a 3 or 4 year program player (yet). But the talent and portal pickups on this year’s squad is much better than prior 2 years. They will need to rinse and repeat again next year, and again after. Their SEC move is going to be disastrous.

Rumors out there last week that Coach might be unhappy at OU and might also want out? Wants to be the man again at a more bball prioritized institution…… Gee…..


Another related subject ——

Hung out with some Saluki insiders this weekend. Mullins is officially on the hot seat down there. Lots of anger over mismanagement with Domask and Jones and how they’re flourishing now…. And unable to coach an offense.

Porter can go to DePaul and be #AllIn with them

That sounds mean, but it doesn't upset me one bit. I lived briefly in Oklahoma, and it is such a severe lifestyle and cultural change from Chicago that you have to assume that someone who moves there who is NOT in desperation must hate where they came from or the situation they were in. Or they must have deluded themselves (like I may have when taking the job there that I took).

Either way, walking away from what Porter Moser left at Loyola was a minor act of violence, IMO. Self destruction, stern self-correction, a hard challenge to one's self? Yes, there was a lot of money. But how much-- how far-- would you let your comfortable, open lifestyle and a non-judgmental view of other people be dragged down into a self-centered, sequestered, insular lifestyle where you're on the local news every night, your sport is third or fourth most important in the scheme of things but if you don't produce at the top level you're gone, etc. If he'd taken the St. Johns job and done well, he'd be better off, wouldn't he? Porter was about 5-10 years too old and too invested in the outcome for that OU job to be anything but trouble and pressure and oppressively invasive. If he got canned tomorrow, he'd never have to work again and he could move back to Chicago. But it wouldn't be the same.

OU is still very safely a 5 or 6 seed. Probably only need 3 or 4 more wins to be a tourney team, given the Big 12's reputation. The Big 12 is such a brutal conference--far and away the best this year. SEC should be a bit easier. There are more "should win" games on the SEC schedule than the B12.

The man made a choice that he thought would be best for him, kudos to him. He got paid a lot and hi families set for generations, also good for him.

With all that said he's a snake oil salesman, no two ways around that you cant exactly talk the talk he did and then walk like he did. I certainly have no reverence for him in the way that others do and it wouldn't upset me at all to see him coaching DePaul or any other job as he settles into the lower to mid tier of P5 NCAA basketball which is where he wants to be.

Here is my two cents:
(1) OU is a great job. It has financial resources and competes for top talent. It's a much better job than St. John's.
(2) He doubled his salary when he left.
(3) FWIW, I think Porter is one of the best coaches in the country and, generally, he is what you see.
(4) With that said, I think his system work better with players who have been in the system for some time. I am not sure how well his teams can do in the transfer portal we reside.
(5) From a basketball perspective, the SEC is a step down from the Big 12. I recall seeing that when conference play started - the teams with toughest remaining schedule in the country were teams in the Big 12.
(6) With the team's improved performance, I think he is safe, but if they collapse or have an embarrassing tournament - he could be gone. Needs to stay ahead of Oklahoma St and Texas.
(7) I could see DePaul coming after him and him taking the job if he does poorly down the stretch.

OU, a football school with enormous financial resources, was and still is the perfect spot for Porter that isn’t named Loyola. Lon Kruger survived and financially thrived for years off of seasons exactly like they’re having this year: top 25 team that flirts with the top 10. Barring a collapse the next two months; I can’t see him leaving. As much as Depaul might offer, OU can match or exceed if they want to. They’re also moving to one of the only two actual “power conferences” that will exist next year. The Big 12 will still be a good basketball league, but football rules the college world and the Big10 and SEC will control that world. OU basketball will benefit from the resources, but not be the pressure cooker that even Depaul might be coming home to huge expectations.