College hoops coaches on the hot seat heading into the season

Boynton is entering his third season in Stillwater, and he needs a marked improvement over the horrible 12-20 showing last year. The last time the Cowboys had a season like they did in 2018-2019, head coach Travis Ford was fired. The program has struggled to find consistent success since Eddie Sutton resigned in 2006, and it hasn't been a realistic contender during that time. Another down season means Oklahoma State will miss the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, and a change will likely need to be made. 

Get ready to see several ACC coaches on this list. It starts with Brownell, who has kept Clemson respectable during his nine seasons but has made the NCAA Tournament just twice in that span. To his credit, he's kept the Tigers from the basement of the ACC but he's never had the program realistically contending for a league title either. What is interesting is how the university views the program: Is it happy with being in the middle of the pack and at least among the finalists to get a guy like Zion Williamson, or does it want its hoops program to catch up to its football counterpart? 

I seem to put Chambers on this list every year, and (nearly) every year he has another bad season...yet he sticks around. In eight seasons the Nittany Lions have had two winning campaigns — including winning the NIT championship in 2018 — and has finished with double-digit conference losses in all but one year. Last year it looked like Chambers' time in Happy Valley would finally come to a close, as Penn State lost its first 10 Big Ten games. But a 7-3 end to the regular season just may have bought him a ninth season. 

Christian has had a hard time bringing Boston College back to respectability despite having some bona fide stars. Their best season during Christian's tenure was when his team went 19-16 two years ago with Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman in the backcourt. The Eagles haven't sniffed the NCAA Tournament, and he has gone just 62-100 over five seasons with a sharp regression last year. He has lost 72 of 90 league games and has finished in last place twice in what many deem one of the toughest coaching gigs in America. Another poor showing, and the Eagles will likely look to another direction. 

Haase's Stanford program has stayed rather stagnant during his three seasons in Palo Alto. The Roy Williams disciple has struggled to be relevant during a weak era of Pac-12 basketball while having talented players like Reid Travis and Kezie Okpala. More should be expected from a program that has made just one NCAA Tournament in the last 11 years. (It had made the tournament in 13 of the previous 14 seasons). That stretch certainly isn't all on Haase, but he needs to get the Cardinal turned around or he could be out. 

Jankovich's tenure at SMU started off with a bang, going 30-5 and winning The American regular season and tournament titles in 2016-2017. That was with Larry Brown's NBA-caliber recruits, and the program has struggled since they've left. The Mustangs have sunk to consecutive 6-12 conference seasons and ninth place finishes in the AAC, and it looks like the mediocre program it was prior to Brown's arrival. Will the university stand for another subpar season and risk losing all the momentum it built up earlier this decade? 

Leitao's second stint at DePaul has been slower to develop than his first. Last year was a big leap for the Blue Demons, as they had their first winning season since 2007 and finished as the runner-up in the CBI. Hey, when you have had 20 or more losses in nine of the last 10 seasons, that's progress. Having said that, the program was hit with a three-year probation, and Leitao received a three-game suspension for "failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance." DePaul has finished in a tie for last place in the Big East the last three years, and all isn't rosy around the school. If the Blue Demons regress (they lost their top three scorers) then Leitao may run out of time. 

Some were surprised that Manning didn't get fired this spring after another disappointing season for the Demon Deacons. That's what long-term guaranteed contracts can do for you. He is just 24-66 in ACC games and has made just one NCAA Tournament in five seasons. He's recruited pretty well at Wake Forest, but the program seems to be stuck in neutral and near the bottom of the conference standings. Fan excitement has waned, and it would seem Manning would need to make a push for a tournament bid for him to keep his job. 

McCall has been at UMass for only two seasons, but the Minutemen finished in 13th place both years and is 9-27 in Atlantic 10 play. He has an extremely young roster in 2019-2020, highlighted by Tre Mitchell...who had a lot of offers from bigger programs. If McCall flounders again, UMass will likely look for a new head coach. 

Pastner hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since taking over the Georgia Tech program three seasons ago, and due to a postseason ban, the team won't earn a bid in his fourth year. Like Danny Manning at Wake Forest, Pastner would be owed a significant amount of money if he is fired this season, which could keep his job safe. With no tournament bid to play for, it will be interesting to see how the Yellow Jackets approach the season and what kind of play Pastner can get out of his young bunch. If they bottom out, the school may have to take the financial hit and move on. 

Porter is a legend in Portland for his time with the NBA's Trail Blazers, but his tenure as the University of Portland's head coach has been a dumpster fire. Last season the Pilots went 0-16 in West Coast Conference play and have lost 46 of 52 league games since Porter took over. Their computer rankings had Portland as one of the worst programs in the nation last year and three of the top four scorers from that team are gone. The WCC is as competitive as ever, which likely leaves Portland struggling again and Porter blazing a trail out. 

Kansas is staunchly defending Bill Self, as the investigation into college basketball's FBI scandal continues and as the NCAA submits a notice of allegations to the university. The Jayhawks don't want him to go anywhere. As we've seen during this scandal, only Rick Pitino has been removed as head coach from this, so it will take significant violations from Self to separate him from the Jayhawks. Still, it has been a bad look for the program and has certainly hurt it in recruiting. And even though the school has his back, it doesn't mean the heat won't come down on it at some point. These things take a ridiculous amount of time, so the likelihood we get closure from the alleged violations this season is small, But that doesn't mean something comes out and forces someone's hand, and it doesn't mean his seat isn't warm. 

Smart's seat is definitely hot, but does that mean Texas would really fire him if he has another 21-16 season? Hard to tell. Aside from the dreadful 2016-2017 season, the Longhorns have been OK under Smart. They've made two NCAA Tournaments in his four years in Austin and won the NIT championship last year. But that isn't what Texas fans were dreaming of when Smart replaced a fired, yet successful, Rick Barnes in 2015. They've had just one winning season in Big 12 play and haven't won an NCAA Tournament game despite having several high-profile recruits land in Austin. If the 'Horns have another 20-17-type season and miss the Big Dance again, just how much confidence will they continue to have in Smart?

Underwood has underperformed at Illinois, though this has been a bit of a project. After taking Stephen F. Austin to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments (and winning a game in two of those trips), he took Oklahoma State to the Big Dance in his lone season there. That hasn't been the case in Champaign, as he has gone just 26-39 in two seasons and has lost seven of 38 Big Ten games. The Illini haven't been to the tournament since 2013 and have won only three tournament games since losing to North Carolina in the 2005 NCAA championship, so this is a difficult job at the moment. Still, Underwood just led them to a 12-21 season, which is the most losses in the program's 115 year history, and another awful season could end his time there.

Will Wade barely hung onto his job last season. He was suspended for a month after he was caught on a wiretap discussing possible payments to recruits. He was reinstated after the Final Four, which stunned many observers who figured it was a matter of time before he was fired. He is still around and still recruiting at a high level, which has a lot of eyes on him and his program. He basically is on thin ice, as any credible information of wrongdoing could force his ouster. Or maybe not.