Top Coaching Jobs - #2

With Indiana facing certain sanctions from the NCAA for the next several years, the Hooisers were still able to land Tom Crean. Roy Williams left the Kansas Jayhawks for North Carolina in 2003. Kansas was able to replace him with Bill Self, from Illinois, who just recently turned down Oklahoma State to stay at Kansas.

It makes you wonder, what are the Top 10 coaching jobs in college basketball? We here at Drinking the Forty consulted with some of the finest basketball experts in the country to find out. Hey, if ESPN can pull random people off the street and call them experts, then we can too.

Here is our Top 10, based on a program’s national persona, recent success, fan base, facilities, history and tradition, and potential for future success.

#2.) UCLA Bruins

UCLA is easily the most storied program in college basketball history. The records amassed under John Wooden, with players like Lou Alcindor and Bill Walton will never be touched again in college basketball. With ten national titles in a twelve year span, UCLA has forever etched their place in college basketball lore.

However, since 1975, the UCLA program had struggled only winning one national title, in 1995. The program struggled after the 1995 title, leading to Steve Lavin’s departure and a few seasons with a losing record, which had previously been unheard of for the Bruins. However, things started to change with the hire of Ben Howland, from Pittsburgh. Howland has restored the program to one of the elite in college basketball, as the Bruins have accomplished three straight Final Four appearances, an astonishing feat for today’s game.

Howland has re-energized the program with a dedication to defense and the ability to recruit top notch talent like Kevin Love, Darren Collison, and Jrue Holliday to Los Angeles. UCLA has remained atop what is a very competitive Pac-10. There have been many challengers, but no one has been able to unseat them from the top. With the history and prestige of the program, coupled with their renewed success, UCLA is back in the national limelight and it will allow them to continue to recruit. With a top notch location in UCLA, pro prospects heading to the NBA, and a cross town rivalry with USC starting to heat up, UCLA is in prime position to dominate the West Coast.

While it is tough to maintain a rabid fan base in such a sports saturated and red carpet dominated market, UCLA has a loyal group and as long as they remain successful will be able to pack the house. The glimmering lights of LA and Hollywood will play to Howland’s favor in recruiting players that want to prepare for the NBA while achieving the maximum exposure. While they are currently re-stocking their NBA talent, and have only become relevant again in the past five years, UCLA appears here to stay with a program that is made for the big time. With a great coach, a solid fan base, a storied program, and a great locale for recruiting, UCLA is firmly entrenched at number two on this list, and it may not be long before it reclaims its grasp on number one.

#3.) Kansas Jayhawks
#4.) Duke Blue Devils
#5.) Kentucky Wildcats
#6.) Indiana Hooisers
#7.) Florida Gators
#8) Michigan State Spartans
#9.) Connecticut Huskies
#10.) Arizona Wildcats

Picture of the Night

I am still not exactly sure what that is. But it very well could be my favorite mascot. Is it a guy or a girl? We shall call it, Pat.

You keep doing what you do Pat. Don't let the man bring you down. You big, red.....thing.

Sweet 16: West Region Preview

This years West Region has been filled with upsets and almost upsets. The highest seed no longer alive is #2 Duke. The Blue Devils survived a one point win over 15 seed Belmont only to lose to West Virginia in the 2nd round. Even top seed UCLA had to stop (or foul) a driving Donald Sloan in the last seconds to move on to the round of 16. But Western Kentucky and San Diego pulled off the biggest upsets of the bracket as the 12 & 13 seed both advanced to face each other in the 2nd round. In a bracket full of upsets, UCLA could get down to the Final Four without facing any higher than a #7 seed. That must be nice.

#1 UCLA v. #12 Western Kentucky

While this may not be as big a marquee matchup as if UCLA were facing UCONN, but Western Kentucky certainly comes into this matchup having already provided some huge drama in their first round game against the Drake Bulldogs. Ty Rogers hit a 30 foot jumper as the clock expired to lift the Hilltoppers to a 1 point win over the higher seeded Bulldogs.
UCLA comes in with an obvious talent advantage, but W. Kentucky's Courtney Lee is a bonafide NBA draft pick and Tyrone Brazelton dropped 33 points against Drake. This guard combo might give UCLA some troubles on the perimeter. But in this game, UCLA's superior talent is going to win out in the end. Even though A&M brought them down to the wire, the Bruin's defense was still present as they held the Aggies to 49 points. UCLA has big time scorers in Kevin Love, Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook. With UCLA's strong defense it just doesn't seem as if the Hilltoppers are going to be able to score enough points to beat the Bruins. Add the fact that the game is being played to a "home" crowd in Phoenix, AZ and you have all the makings of a UCLA trip to the Elite 8.

Predicition: UCLA 78, Western Kentucky 68



#3 Xavier v. #7 West Virginia

The West Virginia Mountaineers were able to beat a Duke team that had little perimeter defense and struggled to shoot the ball from the outside. Quite honestly, most would not even call that win much of an upset, as many thought Duke came into the Tourney with a lot of weaknesses. Xavier on the other hand was able to hold of strong pushes by both Georgia and Purdue to advance to face the Mountaineers.
Xavier is a pretty balanced team as they get great perimeter play from Drew Lavender, Stanley Burrell and C.J. Anderson. Josh Duncan and Derrick Brown provide a strong inside presence. But the Musketeers make their living on the defensive end as they are one of the strongest and most athletic teams on the defensive end. They are led by Burrell who is one of the best all around defenders in the nation. They are going to need all of their defensive efforts as Joe Alexander and Alex Ruoff are big time scorers for the Mountaineers. Alexander has come out of almost no where this year to become a top scoring threat in the nation. But since Bob Huggins has taken over, there has been more focus on the defensive end to complement West Virginia's potent offensive threats. Look for Xavier to be just a little too athletic on the perimeter and too strong on the defensive end for West Virginia to handle. This will be a close game, but in the end the Musketeers will make the plays to get them into the Elite 8.

Predicition: Xavier 82, West Virginia 74

The view from inside Pauley...

Where do I begin.... Remember that time when we beat #1 (or some people say #2) UCLA at Pauley Pavilion? Well I sure do. Probably unlike most of you, I was there. In person. I may have been sitting in the top corner as far from the court as I could be... but I was there nonetheless. By the way, the court at Pauley? Off-center. It's closer to east end of the stadium than the west. Me? Sitting in the west... However, I could still see the game. What a game it was.

Walking around Westwood before the game with our orange on was quite fun, as it is most times when you're wandering around enemy territory. We got many "Tough day to be a Texas fan!" shouts yelled our way and, of course, a few times we were told that we suck. I didn't do much in way of response as they were probably just trying to redeem themselves after their loss to USC the day before.

First observation when getting to the game - the student section gets to sit along the side of the court! Another school, another student section that gets good treatment - but, of course, they were deserving (unlike the Ozone or Stampede or whatever the hell it's called these days at UT). The three sections on the floor and the 3 in the rafters were filled by the time we got there, around 30 min before tip off, and they started making their presence known as soon as their players hit the court. Everytime the jumbotron showed a UCLA player on screen, the students would chant their name until the player recognized the students. First up was Kevin Love and I swear he must be the most egotistical freshman of all time because he let them chant his name for about 5 minutes before giving them their due. You can only imagine how annoying this became over the rest of warmups....

The beginning of the game was intense. The crowd was in it, and pretty loud, although not as loud as I've heard at places like Kansas & Oklahoma St. When Texas started making small runs, the crowd stayed in it and tried to keep the Bruins in it... but after we scored about 8 in a row, the crowd's energy completely died. For the next 10 minutes, all you could hear were the Texas fans spread throughout the arena. It was great.... But of course, as UCLA stormed back, so did the crowd and they stayed pretty energized for the rest of the game.

Honestly the last play of the game is a blur to me. I remember we were tied and had the ball with a chance to win. I remember DJ driving, just throwing the ball at the rim, and I don't know where the hell he came from, but Damion James somehow finished it with a dunk. Then the screaming ensued. I went nuts. Absolutely nuts. Then, for the split second when UCLA's last shot was in the air, I stopped screaming, only to start again the moment I knew it missed. Pretty much by the time I was done screaming Pauley had pretty much cleared out, minus the other Texas fans who had been busy screaming as well.

Walking out of Pauley, having just beaten the #1 ranked team in country, it felt good. And really, the guy was right about it being a tough day to be a Texas fan, my throat was really hurting for the rest of the night. But, being a winner really helped me to get over that.