By Mike Douchant
It apparently is beneath the dignity of the high-and-mighty Big Ten Conference to hire interim coaches as full-time mentors even after they earned acclaim by guiding schools to the NCAA Tournament. Soon after Indiana toyed with Mike Davis' emotions, Wisconsin exhibited a comparable "national reputation" haughtiness by shunning Brad Soderberg.

By any measure, Davis and Soderberg had splendid campaigns after succeeding luminaries Bob Knight and Dick Bennett, respectively. Soderberg, the first Badgers coach to win his first eight games since 1911, had the best year for a coach who assumed control of a program during the first half of a season since Press Maravich at North Carolina State in 1964-65. Press, who went on to coach his record-breaking son Pete at LSU, also directed the Wolfpack to the NCAA playoffs. Wisconsin is one of 26 universities in the last quarter century to have a coach leave after the start of the season but before the midway point of the campaign. Only a handful of them in that span had successors who posted winning records the remainder of the season. Here is a look at the universities in this category (listed alphabetically) since the start of national postseason competition:

• Brigham Young (1996-97)/Tony Ingle (1-25) was named interim coach after the Cougars started the season with a 1-6 record under Roger Reid.
• Buffalo (1999-2000)/Tim Cohane compiled a 2-3 record before he resigned amid an investigation of the program. Successor Reggie Witherspoon went 3-20.
• Cal Poly (2000-01)/Jeff Schneider registered a 5-7 record before he resigned and was replaced by Kevin Bromley, who earned the full-time job despite going 3-12 the remainder of the year.
• Centenary (1977-78)/Tommy Canterbury (6-9) succeeded Riley Wallace (4-8).
• Central Connecticut State (1987-88)/C.J. Jones (8-15) succeeded Bill Detrick (2-3).
• Chicago State (1996-97)/Phil Gary compiled a 4-17 record after replacing
• Craig Hodges, who lost his first six games that season.
• The Citadel (1939-40)/Ben Parker (4-5) succeeded Rock Norman (4-4).
• Colgate (1997-98)/Jack Bruen lost his first six games before passing away because of pancreatic cancer. Successor Paul Aiello went 10-12.
• Connecticut (1946-47)/Blair Gullion compiled a 4-2 record before he was succeeded by Hugh Greer, who went on to become the school's all-time winningest coach until his record was broken by Jim Calhoun.
• Dartmouth (1966-67)/Dave Gavitt (2-15) replaced Doggie Julian (5-2), but technically Julian was still the head coach for the entire season.
• Detroit (1987-88)/Don Sicko had an 0-3 record when he was succeeded by John Mulroy (7-20).
• Duke (1994-95)/Pete Gaudet (4-15) became interim coach after Mike Krzyzewski compiled a 9-3 record before taking a leave of absence because of a back ailment.
• Eastern Michigan (1985-86)/Ben Braun (5-10) succeeded Jim Boyce (4-8).
• Georgetown (1998-99)/John Thompson compiled a 7-6 record before he quit and was succeeded by Craig Esherick (8-10).
• Georgia State (1984-85)/Mark Slonaker (1-24) was an interim coach who replaced Tom Pugliese (1-2).
• Howard (1999-2000)/Kirk Saulny was winless in nine games when he was replaced by interim Billy Coward (1-18), the kicking coach for the school's football team.
• Idaho State (1967-68)/Claude Retherford compiled a 3-1 record before Dan Miller went 10-12.
• Jacksonville (1996-97)/George Scholz was replaced by interim Buster Harvey (5-17) after JU lost its first six games.
• Kansas (1946-47)/Howard Engleman (8-6) finished the season as coach after Phog Allen was ordered to take a rest following the 13th game when the Jayhawks had an 8-5 mark.
• Monmouth (1986-87)/Ron Kornegay compiled a 1-6 record when he was succeeded by Ron Krayl (7-13).
• North Carolina State (1964-65)/Everett Case coached two games (1-1) before retiring. He was succeeded by Press Maravich (20-4).
• Northern Illinois (2000-01)/Brian Hammel went 1-6 before Andy Greer posted a 4-16 mark.
• Oregon State (1959-60)/Slats Gill compiled a 9-3 record before missing 14 games due to illness. His replacement was Paul Valenti (6-8 mark).
• Princeton (1942-43)/Cappy Cappon entered the Navy after four games (2-2) and was replaced by William Logan (12-4).
• Princeton (1944-45)/William Logan left to assume an administrative post at Johns Hopkins University after six games (2-4) and was replaced by Leonard Hattinger (5-8).
• Princeton (1960-61)/Cappy Cappon suffered a heart attack after 11 games (9-2) and was replaced by Jake McCandless (9-6) on an interim basis. Capponwas to have coached the next season, but died three days before the opening game.
• Saint Mary's (1990-91)/Paul Landreaux had a 4-9 record when he was succeeded by Dave Fehte (9-8).
• Sam Houston State (1988-89)/Gary Moss compiled a 2-8 record before he was replaced by Jeff Dittman (10-8).
• San Francisco (1970-71)/The Dons were 0-4 when Bob Gaillard succeeded Phil Vukicevich. Gaillard compiled a 10-12 record the remainder of the season.
• South Alabama (1994-95)/Ronnie Arrow compiled a 1-3 record when he was replaced by Judas Prada (8-15).
• South Carolina (1942-43)/Frank Johnson was 2-0 when Rex Enright (10-6) succeeded him.
• South Carolina (1945-46)/Frank Johnson posted a 5-3 record after replacing Dick Anderson (4-8).
• South Florida (1979-80)/Chip Conner compiled a 4-8 record when Gordon Gibbons (2-13) became interim coach.
• Stetson (2000-01)/Murray Arnold notched a 4-4 record before retiring for health reasons. Derek Waugh went 14-8 the remainder of the year.
• Tennessee State (1984-85)/Ed Martin compiled a 3-6 record when he was succeeded by Ed Meyers (6-13).
• Tennessee Tech (1988-89)/Tom Deaton posted a 2-3 record before Frank Harrell went 8-17 the remainder of the year.
• UNLV (2000-01)/Bill Bayno had compiled a 3-4 record when he was fired because of NCAA irregularities and succeeded by interim Max Good (13-9).
• Utah (1989-90)/Rick Majerus registered a 4-2 record in his initial season with the Utes before undergoing heart surgery and missing the remainder of the year. Assistant Joe Cravens went 12-12 after he was appointed acting coach in Majerus' absence.
• Wisconsin (2000-01)/Brad Soderberg went 18-11 and directed the Badgers to the NCAA Tournament after Dick Bennett won two of their first three games.