Sooner or later, an athletic director somewhere is going to say "No."

"No" to the coach who interviews elsewhere, then comes back and tries to hold his/her current school hostage by using the other school as leverage.

"No" to more money; "No" to a contract extension; "No" to being held up.

Instead, one of these days an A.D. is going to look that coach in the eye and say, "Good luck with that interview. Hope you get the job -- because you don't have one here any longer."

This first came to mind a few weeks ago. Kansas' Bill Self hadn't even cut down the nets for KU's national championship when Oklahoma State came knocking.

Self, of course, had to listen. In turn, KU athletic director Lew Perkins had to sweeten the pot considerably to keep Self in Lawrence.

Self stayed. Oklahoma State hired someone else, and the price of coaches just went up again.

Quick thought: Perkins would have become a hero to athletic directors everywhere -- and, admittedly, a pariah in Jayhawk-nation -- if he would have told Self: "You have a job here. You have a contract here. If you talk to OSU, you don't have either anymore."

Thing is, coaches have the edge in all of these negotiations.If they get fired, their contracts have to be honored. But if they leave their school for a sweeter deal, there are no repercussions.

Yes, more and more schools are putting buyouts in coaches' contracts. But fact is, those aren't deterrents. They were never meant to be such. Rather, they provide "seed money" for the school to begin the search for its next coach.

We say forget the buyout. The clause I'd like to see in the next big-time coach's contract? One that says the first time he/she interviews or talks to another school about a job, their current university has the option to nullify their current contract.

Of course, this brings us to the news that Colorado women's coach Kathy McConnell-Miller is on the verge of receiving a contract extension from CU athletic director Mike Bohn -- after she interviewed at UCLA.

The thought here is that Bohn should think twice, maybe even three times, before extending McConnell-Miller's deal.

If the reports from Los Angeles are accurate, K-Mac only needed UCLA to at least match the compensation package she's getting at CU and she would have jumped. That current deal is worth about $350,000 annually, including base salary, TV-radio money, camp money and Nike contract compensation.

But when it became apparent that UCLA wasn't going to offer that kind of money to a coach who has yet to forge a winning conference record in Boulder, she suddenly became a Buff again. Her commitment to CU was magically renewed.

(There's also the question of whether she was ever the leading candidate. At least one media outlet insists that UCLA got the person they wanted all along, Tennessee assistant Nikki Caldwell. Their version is that McConnell-Miller withdrew her candidacy when it became clear she was No. 2 on the list.)

Nevertheless, Bohn has stated publicly that he believes McConnell-Miller deserves a contract extension.

That's not the view from this corner.

Yes, we have publicly supported an extended deal for CU football coach Dan Hawkins -- and that's comparing apples and oranges.

Hawk has put together one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. He has not responded to any overtures from any other schools -- and yes, there have been some. A coach who can recruit like Hawkins did in the wake of a 2-10 debut season commands plenty of interest on the open market.

But Hawk has remained steadfastly committed to Colorado. Period.

Then there is the bare-bones issue of economics.

Last fiscal year, in a report annually filed with U.S. Dept. of Education, CU football showed expenses of approximately $11.5 million and revenue of approximately $23 million ($11.5 million profit).

If you have a program producing that kind of income, you'd better do your best to keep the ball rolling in that direction.

Meanwhile, CU women's hoops reported revenue of about $580,000 and expenses of approximately $2.3 million.

You do the math.

And, we'll pose this question: If CU men's coach Jeff Bzdelik still hasn't gone to the NCAA Tournament after his third year, and still hasn't put together even one winning conference record, will folks say he deserves a contract extension?

The guess here is no. We'd like to think the women's coach would be held to the same standard.

But to be fair, Bohn will have to give K-Mac some kind of new deal. She'll need it to recruit. And, she has indeed made progress. There should be a reward for that -- but only a minimal one.

Here's hoping the new deal is only a year or two tacked onto her current contract, with no additional money. Here's hoping it includes a healthy buyout should McConnell-Miller decide to get happy feet again anytime in the near future.

And, here's hoping she's sincere when she says, "My family and I are looking forward to continuing to build CU women's basketball. ... We remain excited to be Buffs."

Right now, it's fair to question the sincerity of that statement. But if her commitment to Colorado is indeed as strong as she claims, maybe she'll say "No" the next time another school calls.