Illinois State men's basketball coach Dan Muller is "already trying to make sure his squad is more appealing" to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee next year, and decided Twitter was his "best bet for hooking a big fish," according to Dan Gartland of SI.com. ISU just missed out on the field of 68 due to a "weak non-conference slate," and Muller yesterday tweeted he was looking for a "home & home" next year with a school from the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 or Big East. Improbably, Muller's strategy "actually worked." Ole Miss Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Ross Bjork "caught wind of Muller’s offer and got the ball rolling, urging Muller to call" Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy (
SI.com, 3/13). Muller tweeted that they still need to figure out dates for a matchup with Ole Miss, but it is close to being a "done deal" (
TWITTER.com, 3/13).
WHO'S AT FAULT? USA TODAY's Scott Gleeson noted Muller "comedically turned to Twitter to try to soothe things over" after not being selected by the committee (USATODAY.com, 3/13). Muller said that it "wasn't entirely their fault because power-five schools have been unwilling to play them." Muller: "It's just hard to schedule the games they want us to play. What they're asking for sometimes is not possible. I can tell you, I probably called -- our staff probably called -- 25 schools that made the (NCAA) Tournament to see if they'd play. What do you want us to do?" (AP, 3/13).
