Fansided

10 college basketball coaches on the hottest seats entering 2018-2019

By Brad Berreman

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins during the game against the South Carolina State Bulldogs at Pauley Pavilion on November 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Steve Alford of the UCLA Bruins during the game against the South Carolina State Bulldogs at Pauley Pavilion on November 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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Mandatory Credit: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
Mandatory Credit: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images /

4. Richard Pitino, Minnesota

In a relative flash, Pitino is entering his sixth season at Minnesota. The cache attached to his last name is mostly gone, with an NIT title in his first season and just one NCAA Tournament bid since. The 2016-17 season looked like the start of an upswing, with 24 wins and that trip to the Big Dance, but last year’s 13-3 start faded to a 15-17 finish and the Golden Gophers have won six or fewer Big Ten games in three of the last four seasons.

Injuries to Eric Curry and Amir Coffey helped foster last year’s underachievement, and Reggie Lynch’s suspension during an investigation into sexual assault allegations took another of the team’s best players off the floor. Lynch is gone (expelled from the university) and Curry is going to miss the start of the season after knee surgery, but Coffey is back along with guard DuPree McBrayer, who battled injuries of his own last year.

Pitino has pointed to getting a mulligan for last season, and all things considere,d he’ll probably get one this year. But another very disappointing season, or a late-season fade regardless of the circumstances, may convince athletic director Mark Coyle to make a change.