We published our list of the Top 25 And 1 college basketball coaches earlier this week. It’s a nice honor, I think, if only because inclusion ensures you’re not entering the season on the so-called hot seat.
What’s the hot seat?
In my mind, it’s a place reserved for men who need to have a good season — and by good season, I mostly mean make the NCAA Tournament — or else the job they currently possess could open in March. Yes, those pink slips often come with million-dollar buyouts; that certainly softens the blow. But it still stinks. Because nobody enjoys getting fired. So this is the lousiest list of the preseason — both to be on and write.
Speculating about other folks’ jobs isn’t fun.
But we all have jobs to do — and this is part of mine. So here’s a list of five men who need to have good seasons to ensure they’ll return for the next one.
College basketball coach rankings: UConn’s Dan Hurley bumps Kansas’ Bill Self for No. 1 in Top 25 And 1 poll
David Cobb
Johnny Dawkins | UCF
Record at school: 148-103 entering eighth season
Last NCAA Tournament appearance at school: 2019
Only two of the five coaches who were on last season’s hot-seat list survived — Clemson’s Brad Brownell, who saved his job by going 24-12 and advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, and Dawkins, who saved his job by, I guess, not embarrassing UCF in its first season in the Big 12. Still, the Knights only finished 17-16 overall, 7-11 in the Big 12, and missed the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in eight years under Dawkins. If that run extends to eight misses in nine years, a change in leadership at UCF will probably follow Selection Sunday.
Porter Moser | Oklahoma
Record at…
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