Going to be a fairly long post, but I hope to make it an interesting one.
Started a career in FBCB with a Level 4 coach (180 points) at Savannah State (20 prestige) for a nice challenge. Did the classic build-until-an-offer-comes job there, built around 2 #75 recruiting classes in my first 2 seasons. A 20-win season, MEAC title, and NCAA appearance in year 4 cap off a successful building job.
With conference prestige changes turned on, I'm very lucky to catch C-USA (3/5 prestige) on a down year. I get an offer from Southern Miss (75 prestige), albeit with the high expectation of making the Sweet 16. (They had made the NCAA title game 5 years earlier, and had once NCAA appearance--an Elite 8 run--between then and the offer date.) So I jump for the next challenge.
I have a transition year where we go 11-7 in conference and 4-10 out of conference. But the recruiting successes begin in earnest, as a #35 class including a 4-star recruit is the first of 4 straight classes in the top 40 and featuring a 4-star player to lead C-USA.
The on-court results follow. We win either the regular season or conference title each of the next 3 seasons, picking up at least 13 conference wins and 24 total wins every year. We make one Sweet 16 run in amassing a 3-3 NCAA tourney record in those 3 years.
Just as Southern Miss is coalescing into a threat on the national stage, alma mater comes calling for coach. North Carolina's coach has retired, and despite the high expectation of reaching a Final Four, I jump at the opportunity.
I always schedule home-and-home series against a school I've just left. In year 1 at UNC, we go to Southern Miss... and are played off the floor. It was just deserts. That notwithstanding, it was a banner year at UNC, with a regular-season ACC title, a final ranking of #9, a 2-seed, and an Elite 8 appearance. We went 29-7/14-4.
Feeding the fire, we land the #1 overall recruiting class, including 3 5-star kids. 2 of them are projected top 5 picks in the next NBA draft. Sights are set high with a #3 preseason ranking.
The first sign of trouble is when UNC shoots 38% and commits 27 fouls in a 83-72 loss to Pacific in the first round of a preseason tourney. Things level out after that, though. We happen to meet Southern Miss in the 5th-place game of that tourney, and get a convincing 85-68 win.
We take our second loss in a 90-80 shootout against Michigan. After opening the ACC slate with a tough 100-94 win over NC State, who's up next? Why, Southern Miss again!--in the return date of that home-and-home we had begun the year before. We are once again up to the task, securing an 80-71 win.
Then conference play begins in earnest. While there's only 1 or 2 head-scratchers, we take 8 losses against 10 wins in ACC play. A partial explanation for this might be offered by the fact that injuries resulted in 8 different Tar Heels starting at least 10 games over the course of the season. Regardless, by season's end, we had slipped out of the polls and landed as an 8-seed in the NCAA tourney.
Now for the tournament. First, we eke out a 59-56 win over a Houston team that we outclass, frankly. Our Round of 32 opponent is #1 Missouri--a team I saw often as a money game at Savannah State and Southern Miss. The 87-78 upset is a measure of personal satisfaction in addition to the team's accomplishment. We secure 11-point wins against 5-seed Marquette and 3-seed Tulsa to win our region.
Our Final Four date pits us against... Southern Miss. Of all people. Our 2 wins against them are true outliers, as they have otherwise gone 33-2, 18-0 in conference, earning the #1 RPI in college basketball.
Boy, do the basketball gods know how to line them up sometimes.
