Texas
The big question surrounding this year's hot seat is Shaka Smart's status at Texas. That was the case entering the season and it remains that way. To recap: Smart has zero NCAA tournament wins since taking over at Texas in 2015, he entered the season 10 games below .500 in Big 12 play and the Longhorns have generally underachieved relative to their talent. That said, the talent has been there in Austin. Smart has brought in three first-round NBA draft picks and nearly 20 ESPN 100 prospects.
Bilas Index 2.0: New 1-68 rankings, and college basketball's officiating problem
Heading into the season, Texas was expected to reach the NCAA tournament. Four players who started at least 16 games returned from a year ago, and Smart was bringing in three ESPN 100 talents. As of now, the Longhorns have a lot of work to do to hear their name on Selection Sunday. They have three losses by 15-plus points to Baylor, Georgetown and Providence, just lost at home by 10 to Oklahoma on Wednesday night, and their lone remotely impressive win was at Purdue in early November.
Smart's contract is fully guaranteed, with three years and nearly $10 million remaining. One other wrinkle: There's always been talk that Smart could leave on his own and head to the ACC -- particularly to Clemson, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach. More on the Tigers shortly. One other issue industry sources have brought up is a lack of elite candidates for Texas. Chris Beard seems content at Texas Tech, and Billy Donovan, everyone's white whale, has the Oklahoma City Thunder comfortably in playoff position.
ACC
The big question surrounding this year's hot seat is Shaka Smart's status at Texas. That was the case entering the season and it remains that way. To recap: Smart has zero NCAA tournament wins since taking over at Texas in 2015, he entered the season 10 games below .500 in Big 12 play and the Longhorns have generally underachieved relative to their talent. That said, the talent has been there in Austin. Smart has brought in three first-round NBA draft picks and nearly 20 ESPN 100 prospects.
Bilas Index 2.0: New 1-68 rankings, and college basketball's officiating problem
Heading into the season, Texas was expected to reach the NCAA tournament. Four players who started at least 16 games returned from a year ago, and Smart was bringing in three ESPN 100 talents. As of now, the Longhorns have a lot of work to do to hear their name on Selection Sunday. They have three losses by 15-plus points to Baylor, Georgetown and Providence, just lost at home by 10 to Oklahoma on Wednesday night, and their lone remotely impressive win was at Purdue in early November.
Smart's contract is fully guaranteed, with three years and nearly $10 million remaining. One other wrinkle: There's always been talk that Smart could leave on his own and head to the ACC -- particularly to Clemson, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach. More on the Tigers shortly. One other issue industry sources have brought up is a lack of elite candidates for Texas. Chris Beard seems content at Texas Tech, and Billy Donovan, everyone's white whale, has the Oklahoma City Thunder comfortably in playoff position.
ACC
