A decent new coach can really have a positive impact on a team/program. However, part of the reason for that is that it is difficult to prepare an accurate scout and game plan against them.
One of the reasons that power conferences have advantages over mid major schools is that power conference schools have a resources to prepare much more detailed and accurate scouting reports. Not just things like player x likes to drive right, but things like when a team is up by 10+ points they tend to change their defense and play drop coverage on ball screens.
That may not be the best example, but I remember a player a few years ago (I think it was a player that transferred into Illinois) who moved from a MVC school to a Power Conference school. He said the biggest difference wasn't the players being better it was that the scouting reports and game plans were so much more detailed.
What I'm getting at is that I don't believe that what Tennessee is doing is sustainable, once teams have a chance to better scout what Tennessee is doing. I also need to see more proof before I believe what MSU is doing. Coach Merchant was a good coach at MSU, but for whatever reason she couldn't keep recruiting the players needed to keep MSU in the top third of the B1G. That doesn't mean that MSU can't beat Iowa on Sunday, just that if MSU does win the credit should go to the players not the new coach.
sorry for the rambling post
