It has been rumored that Dana Altman, the head coach at Creighton might be headed to Missouri, or at least part of the search. His ties with Norm Stewart, the coach before Quin Synder, make him a likely candidate for the position - that and his record over the past 12 years at Creighton.

Here is a thought for you. Think back to the mid-major schools you heard a lot about five years ago and still hear about today. There should be about two names on that list: Gonzaga and Creighton. Altman had Creighton in the running for an NCAA bid until a first round loss to Bradley in the Missouri Valley Tournament did them in. Still, the Bluejays were off to the NIT, marking the ninth year in a row that they have gone to a post-season tournament, including six times in the big dance. If that isn't success at the Division I level, I don't know what is, especially when you presume that he is doing it with less that the best of talent.

The only piece missing on Altman's resume might be more post-season wins. There is no doubt that he can win the Missouri Valley tournament, capturing five titles in 12 years, not all from the top position in the league. But on the big stage, or the second biggest stage, the Jays have only won three times, with one of the losses coming as a No. 6 seed in 2003. Overall, that makes his Creighton tournament record 3-9 with no appearances past the second round in either the NIT or NCAA tournament.

The other snag in the "Altman to Missouri" campaign has been the emergence of a man who was believed to be headed elsewhere. Steve Alford is apparently not going to be interviewed by Indiana. This is not surprising since my belief is that Indiana should want someone who can win in the tournament, not just during the regular season. Sources claim that Indiana is only interviewing two candidates and with a list that short, and the belief that Indiana will hire someone close to the school, there are few names that can fit in both circles.

With Alford off the list at Indiana, that leaves him open to pursue the job at Missouri. This would be a curious fit for Alford although he did coach at Missouri State before going to Iowa. The one thing it does do that Indiana could not is relieve him of the pressure of having to go against Iowa every year during the regular season, as he would if he took the Indiana job.

So that leaves Altman free to pursue other venues if he desires. And what better place than Iowa if he was looking to remain in the Midwest.

So, with McDermott gone and Altman appearing to be destined for another level, does that mean that the Missouri Valley is tapped out?

In some ways, yes. Some of the coaches with great years in the Valley are probably at their schools to stay, at least for the time being. We won't see Jim Les leaving the Bradley Braves where he was both a player and now the coach. Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery is most likely staying for at least another season where he was a player and now the head coach.

And there is probably a second caveat to one of the coaches leaving. It is likely that the coaches from the Missouri Valley would end up coaching somewhere close to where they are now. Other than rare cases where a coach has ties to another program, it is doubtful that they will leave their base recruiting area of the Midwest.

Looking at the list of openings right now, that narrows our list down to one program outside of the Missouri or potentially, Iowa jobs - Kansas State.

As if it wasn't an obvious choice, there might be no one better qualified that Mark Turgeon, current head coach of the Wichita State Shockers. Turgeon played basketball for the University of Kansas during the mid-80s and also served as an assistant under Roy Williams. Now, in six years at Wichita State, Turgeon has led the Shockers to four straight post-season appearances, including three NITs in a row and now a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA tournament with still a chance for the Elite Eight.

The Kansas State administration fired Jim Wooldridge because they believed that their team was good enough to make a post-season tournament. It was put to Wooldridge during the season that if the team didn't get a berth anywhere, he was gone. When the team didn't get selected to the NIT after falling in the first round of the Big XII tournament, Wooldridge was shown the door.

With his recent tournament experience, Turgeon would seem then to fit the mold perfectly for the case put forth by the administration.

He has shown that he can take a team, rebuild it, and then make it better every season. His success in the Missouri Valley over the past few years shows that. And now, he has both the NIT success and NCAA success to back up a job at a higher level.

With the Kansas ties, Turgeon is familiar with the Big XII conference and also with the state, having grown up there, played there, and now coached there. He has recruiting success not only at Wichita State, but also at Oregon where he served as an assistant.

The Kansas State administration is said to be taking its time in making the decision, but that might be only a formality until Turgeon and the Shockers end their NCAA run.