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2013-14 Season Preview: Top 10 coaches on the hot seat

CBI Texas Houston Basketball

AP Photo

AP

CBI Texas Houston Basketball

AP Photo

AP

All month long, CBT will be rolling out our 2013-2014 season preview. Check back throughout the day, as we’ll be posting three or four preview items every day.

To browse through the preview posts we’ve already published, click here. To see the rest of our preview lists, click here. For a schedule of our previews for the month, click here.

As the 2013-14 college basketball season begins, we have a new batch of coaches sitting squarely on the “hot seat”. Although “hot seat” is probably an overused cliché sports term at this point, it still applies as long as there are coaches that need to win and make changes in their respective programs in order to keep their jobs. This year’s top 10 features some familiar names and some coaches that have accumulated tremendous amounts of success in the past, only to fall on recent hard times.

1. Rick Barnes, Texas: Mack Brown isn’t the only veteran Longhorn head coach on the hot seat. After missing the NCAA Tournament last season, accumulating his first losing record in 15 seasons in Austin, and not posting a winning record in the Big 12 since 2010-11, Rick Barnes is feeling the heat at Texas. Roster turnover has been high this offseason as well and top recruits in the state of Texas have recently stayed away from Barnes and the Longhorns. With Monday’s announcement that Texas Athletic Director -- and long-time Barnes supporter -- DeLoss Dodds is retiring, it only makes the speculation grow.

2. Jeff Bzdelik, Wake Forest: When your own fan base is taking out front page ads calling for your dismissal like Demon Deacon fans did in March, it isn’t a very good sign. Bzdelik is only 11-42 in the ACC in his three seasons in Winston-Salem and with the ACC only getting stronger, that record isn’t going to improve very easily any time soon. Bzdelik needs to win over the fan base and win some games to save his job. But for now, websites like FireBZ.com live on.

3. Herb Sendek, Arizona State: Arizona State has made one NCAA Tournament in Sendek’s seven seasons in Tempe and the expectation will be to make the tournament this season after an NIT bid last season and the return of Pac-12 co-Freshman of the Year Jahii Carson. With eight newcomers and a dramatic increase in offensive tempo, will Sendek’s new-look Sun Devils rise to the occasion and potentially save his job?

NIT Stanford Alabama Football

Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins signals to his team during an NCAA college basketball game against Alabama in the second round of the NIT on Saturday March 23, 2013 at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/AL.com, Vasha Hunt) MAGS OUT

AP

4. Johnny Dawkins, Stanford: Before Dawkins’ tenure, the Cardinal had made the NCAA Tournament in 13 of 14 seasons before missing out on the Big Dance in all five seasons under the former Duke assistant. Dawkins has made the postseason in three of five seasons at Stanford -- winning the NIT in 2011-12 -- but he’ll need to make the tournament to keep his job.

5. Tony Barbee, Auburn: There have been as many players that have left the Auburn program -- 12 -- as Barbee has SEC wins in his three-year tenure. When you throw in a point-shaving scandal to boot that isn’t a very good sign. The Tigers lost 16 of their final 17 games in 2012-13 by an average of 12 points.

6. Craig Robinson, Oregon State: It’s tough to win in Corvallis, but the Beavers have never finished at or above .500 in Pac-12 play under Robinson and haven’t shown any signs of significant improvement.

7. Ken Bone, Washington State: The Cougars finished 13-19 and 4-14 in the Pac-12 last season and lose their best player in all-conference forward Brock Motum. Bone has never made the NCAA Tournament in four seasons in Pullman and things don’t appear to be getting better very quickly.

8. Mark Fox, Georgia: Despite having the SEC Player of the Year in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Bulldogs finished with a losing record in 2012-13 and Fox has made the Tournament once in four seasons in Athens.

9. Ben Braun, Rice: Conference USA has grown significantly weaker the last few years and the Owls have still continued to struggle. Rice finished 1-15 in league play last season and Braun is 19-61 in the league in five seasons at the helm.

10. Oliver Purnell, DePaul: DePaul is only 30-64 and a horrific 6-48 in the Big East under Purnell, but with a new Chicago arena becoming the focus of DePaul’s administration and with four more years remaining on his seven-year contract, Purnell should be safe for at least another season.

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