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B1G Coach of the Year- Iowa Caucus Rules

Let's see where the conference race sits.

By jumboheroes
Pictures of Fran are always fun.
Pictures of Fran are always fun.
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

While the political world turns its attention to OMHR and the first in the nation Iowa Caucus I thought it might be worth our time to take a look at the race for B1G coach of the year. Much like the Iowa Caucus this post means nothing in the grand scheme of things and is only worth what you put into it. For those unfamiliar with the style of voting in Iowa it goes like this: you can vote for whoever you want but if your candidate doesn't get 15% of the vote they are eliminated and you are free to vote for someone else. It's an odd system to be sure but I thought it would be fun to see where the conference award would shake out if the voting was similar. With 14 coaches in the conference, and only 3-4 coaches who could conceivably win the thing we should be able to eliminate folks rather quickly. Let's take a look at the first round of balloting.

  1. Fran- 30%
  2. Turgeon- 20%
  3. Crean- 15%
  4. Painter- 15%
  5. Izzo- 15%
  6. Beilein- 5%
  7. Collins- 0%
  8. Matta- 0%
  9. Gard- 0%
  10. Pitino- 0%
  11. Miles- 0%
  12. Chambers- 0%
  13. Jordan- 0%
  14. Groce - 0%
So right after after the first ballot you see that everyone below Tom Izzo is eliminated. That means that there is now 5% of the vote up for grabs with the second ballot. In the Iowa Caucus tradition this then allows designated people for each coach to make their case for why they should be the one you vote for.

The most convincing case at this point in time seems to be for Fran. Iowa was not expected to be a top 10 team this season regardless of where you looked. I honestly don't think that even the most ardent Iowa fans thought they could get to this point. They have swept Michigan State and Purdue already this season and have looked great at times.

Turgeon loses some points because his team was expected to be great this season and was largely considered a threat to go all the way. It's not really fair but that's generally how these awards are given out. The key is to beat expectations.

Tom Crean loses points to me because of the ease of IU's conference schedule thus far. He could still prove me wrong as the season progresses and the meat of the schedule comes up but right now they sit high up in the conference standings due to friendly scheduling.

Painter and Izzo sit in a similar boat in my opinion. Both have great talent but haven't yet been able to put it all together so far this season. Much like Tom Crean they still could find a way to turn it around but at this point they lose favor. Purdue especially has a great chance to prove a point in February as the schedule is a murderer's row. Izzo would need to make drastic changes in the second half of the season which is where he excels so it's always a possibility and too soon to count him out.

Round two of the balloting looks something like this.

  1. Fran- 65%
  2. Turgeon- 30%
  3. Crean- 2%
  4. Painter- 2%
  5. Izzo- 1%
Knocking out the bottom three we are left with a pretty convincing win for Fran the man with the final results below.

  1. Fran- 69%
  2. Turgeon- 31%
So there you have it. Fran "The angry man" McCaffery wins the B1G coach of the year by a commanding margin if it were decided today. It's hard to argue that's where we are at but remember the conference slate is only half over. A lot can change through the last month plus of the season. Painter has a major opportunity to rise in the month of February and Crean has just as far to fall. The meat grinder of the B1G claims many victims and I'm sure it's not done for the season. To those that are politically inclined enjoy the caucus tonight and sound off in the comments about who you think should win B1G coach of the year.

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