UNI's Jacobson a coach candidate at Minnesota?

CEDAR FALLS - Troy Dannen let go with a slight chuckle Tuesday night. Is the Northern Iowa athletics director concerned he might lose men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson?

He's had to answer that question before.

"No, I'm not worried," Dannen said. "How can you be worried about something you can't control?"

Great point. Dannen has done everything he can to keep Jacobson in the fold, signing him to a 10-year contract in March 2010 that pays the coach $500,000 this season.

The rumor mill has begun yet again, albeit to a lesser extent, with Jacobson's name being bandied about as a secondary possibility for the head coaching job at the University of Minnesota. It's a natural, considering he's a North Dakota native.

The Golden Gophers fired Tubby Smith on Monday. There even has been a little speculation about Jacobson being a fit at Northwestern, as well.

“That's the nature of college athletics," he said Tuesday, after UNI's 90-77 win over Bradley in a CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinal. "Whether it's me or anybody else, you're either doing well enough that your name is going to get mentioned, whether you want it to or not, or you're not doing well enough, and there's a good chance you're going to get fired. There's really no middle ground for most people.

"That's where I'm really fortunate. I don't like to call it middle ground because we're striving to win championships, and I don't consider that middle ground. When I say middle ground, I'm saying being happy at the job you're in and having guys you like being around. So I'm not right now at either end.”

For the record, Jacobson said Minnesota has not contacted him. Dannen added the school has not asked him for permission to speak to his coach.

"Though, usually, they'll do that a day before they hire a guy," he said, with another laugh.

"I really like what I'm doing," Jacobson said. "I like being here.”