Revival in Minnesota

Forgive Tubby Smith for providing yet another link between sports and religion.

Remember, this is the coach who was expected to walk on water in his previous job.

"With coaches, it's kind of like preachers," Smith said Sunday at Big Ten basketball media day. "You move to the next congregation. The message is the same, but you try to win them over."

Smith's new challenge is winning over a Minnesota fan base starved for a savior. Having escaped the snake pit in Kentucky after 10 seasons, six of which reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen or beyond, Smith is adjusting to different demands in Minneapolis.

See, he never had to sell Kentucky basketball. At Minnesota, promoting the program to the outside is almost as important as building it within.

"Everybody wants a piece of you," Smith said. "They want to hear from you; they want to see you. You have to have more availability.

"At Kentucky, you're going to get 20,000 every game. It's been sold out for years. That wasn't really an issue."

Smith is one of three new Big Ten coaches hoping to cultivate revivals this season. Michigan's John Beilein and Iowa's Todd Lickliter also join the mix as the Big Ten, like many leagues, experienced significant coaching change this off-season.

Beilein takes over a Michigan program that hasn't reached the NCAA Tournament since 1998. Known as a top-of-the-line tactician, Beilein has been a head coach throughout his career, which began in the high school ranks and moved to junior college and Division II before Canisius in 1993.

"I've never been an assistant one time," said Beilein, who guided West Virginia to a Sweet Sixteen and an Elite Eight. "I don't know what other people do. I just know what we do.

"Being a self-taught coach, you learn to adapt."

Lickliter also will instill discipline at Iowa after guiding Butler to the Sweet Sixteen last season. The Hawkeyes lose top scorers Adam Haluska and Tyler Smith.

"We're going to have a group of individuals on the same page," Lickliter said. "They're going to defend with purpose, they're going to share the basketball offensively, and they're going to play at the pace they want to play."

Missing man: Northwestern guard Craig Moore has kept in touch with sophomore forward Kevin Coble, who left the team two weeks ago to be with his ailing mother in Arizona. But Moore isn't sure when Coble, the team's leading scorer last season, will be able to return.

"We don't want to have an excuse," Moore said. "We think we're good enough without him to beat some teams, and then when he comes back we'll be even better."