Jans media session...

[dawgstudent]

2 things stuck out

He spoke about the Arkansas rumors. He said don't believe everything you read on social media. I call BS but elated he is still here.




Cam Matthews - said it's time for Cam to get better offensviely for his career after State. I just hope this doesn't change Cam's focus b/c what he provides is so much more than points.

 

[Shmuley]

I take it that the delay in signing the extension was just internet rumor?

 

[ZombieKissinger]

Sixpack scans social media, filters it, and only posts the facts

 

[retire the banner]

My final thought on the Jans-Arkansas rumor is: it’s probably true, but I don’t see why State fans should get upset about it for two reasons:

1) Arkansas is objectively a better job

2) one of the reasons Arkansas is a better job is fan support for basketball. State’s support for MBB the last 10-12 years has been poor. I don’t care what the reasons are to why, that’s been debated here at length. We have a fan base that cares more about supporting a niche sport that doesn’t generate revenue, and posters have stated on here they prefer to support baseball over MBB & football. That’s a MSU problem that’s not an Arkansas problem- Ark has no issue supporting football, MBB, and baseball simultaneously. It doesn’t have to compete with one another in Fayetteville.

If there’s a rebuttal to this^, it’ll be Arkansas just has a bigger, better fanbase with more resources.

I’m just not sure why the hill we want to die on as a SEC institution is “Support baseball! Even if it’s in spite of sports that keep us afloat as a university!”

 

[patdog]

Who knows what's true and what's not? But I don't know that it makes much sense that Arkansas was scheduling interviews with coaches like Jans and then suddenly out of nowhere a coach like Calipari appears and the deal is done in hours. I think that rumor was just a smokescreen.

 

[onewoof]

I'll remind you guys every single time. It's the job of the agent to create speculation for his client. Every single time. His only interest is getting more money or a better contract for his clients. By any means necessary. It is that kind of a business

 

[Dawgg]

I’m just not sure why the hill we want to die on as a SEC institution is “Support baseball! Even if it’s in spite of sports that keep us afloat as a university!”

With the SEC media contracts… the difference in university earnings between us winning 1 men’s basketball game and 30 is a pittance. The difference in university earnings between us winning 1 football game and 12 is an even smaller pittance. Yes, those sports generate the most revenue, but something like 90%-95% of that revenue is being generated regardless of the product on the field.

 

[retire the banner]

With the SEC media contracts… the difference in university earnings between us winning 1 men’s basketball game and 30 is a pittance. The difference in university earnings between us winning 1 football game and 12 is an even smaller pittance. Yes, those sports generate the most revenue, but something like 90%-95% of that revenue is being generated regardless of the product on the field.

I completely disagree.

So the stance you’re taking is for the two “important” revenue- generating sports we shouldn’t care too much because if we suck at them we’ll still make money.

To me, the approach should be: invest and show up for the cash cow, more wins and fan engagement in football and MBB would result in more wins, more media attention, more revenue, better for the university, better for the city of Starkville. Look no further than how heavily OM has invested in football. It’s been the fake it til you make it approach - Oxford is thriving like never before and the university is generating money hand over fist. Better for their academics, better for everyone associated up there. As much as this pains me to admit all of this. I don’t get why we have fans on this board that can’t grasp this.

 

[POTUS]

If you're a support baseball as if it matters as much as football and men's basketball kind of guy, I really don't need to hear anything else from you. You've self-designated as objectively stupid or willfully ignorant. Go find Jean's Page or some other place where the delusional can congregate.

Football matters. Everything else isn't even secondary, it's tertiary. Football first and second. Then Men's basketball. After that, it's basically the WNBA, it doesn't exist in the way you've grown accustomed to without the magnanimous gifts of football.

 

[Dawgg]

I completely disagree.

So the stance you’re taking is for the two “important” revenue- generating sports we shouldn’t care too much because if we suck at them we’ll still make money.

I'm taking the stance that I understand the logic behind why a person would feel that way. Personally, I care about winning and I don't care what sport it is. I would LOVE to compete for national titles in football, but I'm also not blind to the realities of the world. I think we can be competitive some years, but I don't think we have the wealth within the alumni base to be a yearly powerhouse in the current world of college football. We can be competitive some years, but will we ever be on the same level as Ohio State? No and neither will Ole Miss. If we can create a dominant program in baseball, soccer, softball, volleyball, women's basketball, what have you, and the investment is a tiny fraction of what it is to be competitive "some years" in football, then I totally understand why a person would want to invest their dollars there.

To me, the approach should be: invest and show up for the cash cow, more wins and fan engagement in football and MBB would result in more wins, more media attention, more revenue, better for the university, better for the city of Starkville.

We should separate the discussions between college football and men's basketball. They're not even in the same league, revenue wise. Men's basketball is closer in revenue to baseball than it is football. It's not in the national media until March. The regular season is a lot more like college baseball in terms of media coverage. Men's basketball is not 'the cash cow'.

I guess what I'm saying is the cash cow is going to produce cash no matter how much you feed it and I don't know if the amount of hay you need to feed it to make it a real show cow is:
1. Available
2. Going to make it a perennial show winner

But we got plenty of pigs and lambs that we could be winning with for a lot less grain.

Look no further than how heavily OM has invested in football. It’s been the fake it til you make it approach - Oxford is thriving like never before and the university is generating money hand over fist. Better for their academics, better for everyone associated up there. As much as this pains me to admit all of this. I don’t get why we have fans on this board that can’t grasp this.

Do you have some empirical evidence behind this or is that just anecdotal? That sounds like a very conventional wisdom pie in the sky take. "It feels true."

 

[retire the banner]

I'm taking the stance that I understand the logic behind why a person would feel that way. Personally, I care about winning and I don't care what sport it is. I would LOVE to compete for national titles in football, but I'm also not blind to the realities of the world. I think we can be competitive some years, but I don't think we have the wealth within the alumni base to be a yearly powerhouse in the current world of college football. We can be competitive some years, but will we ever be on the same level as Ohio State? No and neither will Ole Miss. If we can create a dominant program in baseball, soccer, softball, volleyball, women's basketball, what have you, and the investment is a tiny fraction of what it is to be competitive "some years" in football, then I totally understand why a person would want to invest their dollars there.


We should separate the discussions between college football and men's basketball. They're not even in the same league, revenue wise. Men's basketball is closer in revenue to baseball than it is football. It's not in the national media until March. The regular season is a lot more like college baseball in terms of media coverage. Men's basketball is not 'the cash cow'.

I guess what I'm saying is the cash cow is going to produce cash no matter how much you feed it and I don't know if the amount of hay you need to feed it to make it a real show cow is:
1. Available
2. Going to make it a perennial show winner

But we got plenty of pigs and lambs that we could be winning with for a lot less grain.



Do you have some empirical evidence behind this or is that just anecdotal? That sounds like a very conventional wisdom pie in the sky take. "It feels true."

A lot to unpack here but I’ll start with your point about MBB not producing significant revenue by providing you with a real-life example:

Auburn chose to invest in men’s basketball. It built an SEC juggernaut.

Auburn is spending record numbers on men's basketball. It's winning in record numbers, too.

www.al.com

Auburn had very similar history as MSU basketball until the 2010s when they begin to invest. They had never been to a final four, and only 8 NCAAT appearances- so their basketball history to an extent was inferior to MSU’s. In 2023, they produced $20 million in revenue. So your point about baseball being in the same ballpark revenue-wise is incorrect. Basketball is a clear #2 and should be a clear #2 priority wise for every power 5 institution. The issue is leadership.

I wouldn’t take offense to our lack of MBB investment if we didn’t have 12k at baseball game in February against Lipscomb, and ON THE SAME DAY we can’t get 8k to a big SEC home basketball game against Texas A&M. It begins with leadership but also shows where our misaligned priorities are. Really hoping Selmon can fix this.

To your first point, I don’t think anyone believes we can be Ohio State, myself included. However, why not try to be the very best we can be and have a high expectations? For some reason, that is something we make fun of ole miss for, but who is laughing about them now? My overriding point is why in the hell do we have an alarming amount of folks within our fanbase who claim we can only be competitive in baseball and therefore, we should invest more in it, and less in football. Do you not see how that’s a death sentence? You say you just want to win and that’s all you care about. Well of course, who doesn’t. But don’t you see that football is the tide that lifts all boats. Baseball doesn’t have the same effect. Starkville had a greater an economic and university impact from the 2014 football season than the 2021 baseball national championship. I’m in agreement that I want to win in all sports, and that’s most important- but what you’re missing is that starts and ends with football. It doesn’t matter if we win in baseball if we neglect the most important sport and wind up in the CUSA 10 years from now.

Lastly, here’s an article about Oxford’s economic growth:

Oxford economy reaches new high with record sales tax revenue - The Oxford Eagle

Oxford’s local economy is showing robust growth, as reported by Mayor Robyn Tannehill at the Dec. 19 Board of Aldermen meeting. The city’s sales tax revenue for October reached a record high of $1,295,713.16, setting a precedent for economic prosperity in the area. According to Mayor Tannehill...

www.oxfordeagle.com

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I think he’s stretching the truth about Arkansas and knowing what we know about his interest in the SMU job it’s not surprising.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I am happy with my job, but if a better job comes open that pays more I probably would apply.

 

[Darryl Steight]

I think he’s stretching the truth about Arkansas and knowing what we know about his interest in the SMU job it’s not surprising.

There might be a little sleight of hand in his answer too... His non-answer was, "don't believe everything you hear on social media". But the report came from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. It may a shittay newspaper and just as much of a rag as the Clarion-Ledger, but that doesn't make it social media. It's just media.

 

[jdbulldog]

My final thought on the Jans-Arkansas rumor is: it’s probably true, but I don’t see why State fans should get upset about it for two reasons:

1) Arkansas is objectively a better job

2) one of the reasons Arkansas is a better job is fan support for basketball. State’s support for MBB the last 10-12 years has been poor. I don’t care what the reasons are to why, that’s been debated here at length. We have a fan base that cares more about supporting a niche sport that doesn’t generate revenue, and posters have stated on here they prefer to support baseball over MBB & football. That’s a MSU problem that’s not an Arkansas problem- Ark has no issue supporting football, MBB, and baseball simultaneously. It doesn’t have to compete with one another in Fayetteville.

If there’s a rebuttal to this^, it’ll be Arkansas just has a bigger, better fanbase with more resources.

I’m just not sure why the hill we want to die on as a SEC institution is “Support baseball! Even if it’s in spite of sports that keep us afloat as a university!”

Supporting baseball is not in spite of the revenue sports…it comes from a long tradition of winning. Establish winners in the revenue sports and there will be overwhelming support for those, too. We are close to that in basketball now, but have a ways to go in football.

 

[retire the banner]

Supporting baseball is not in spite of the revenue sports…it comes from a long tradition of winning. Establish winners in the revenue sports and there will be overwhelming support for those, too. We are close to that in basketball now, but have a ways to go in football.

Normally I’d agree with you. But just read this board.

Another poster said it well “there is not an insignificant amount of fans on here that would choose to give and fully support intramural sports like baseball, and don’t want to support football because they think “we can’t compete””