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Which college basketball coaches are on the hot seat in 2012-13?

Herb Sendek

Throughout the month of October, CollegeBasketballTalk will be rolling out our previews for the 2012-2013 season. Check back at 9 a.m. and just after lunch every day, Monday-Friday, for a new preview item.

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

As the coaching carousel keeps spinning, many coaches who were on the hot seat in 2011-12 have now been fired or moved on to other destinations. But some remain, poised to have a season that puts their teams back into contention, others feeling that seat getting hotter by the minute.

Herb Sendek, Arizona State

Coming off of a 10-21 season with the Sun Devils last year, Sendek caught a tough break when two of his assistants left for positions at other Division-I programs late in the summer, nearly rolling over his entire bench days before classes started at ASU.

On the court, Sendek is losing his top two leading scorers from last year’s team, Trent Lockett, who transferred to Marquette, and Keala King, who was dismissed from the team for “unacceptable conduct.”

The one bright spot for Arizona State will be the addition of electric point guard Jahii Carson, who was ruled academically ineligible last season.

Jeff Bzdelik, Wake Forest

Bzdelik is 21-42 in his first two seasons with the Demon Deacons, and with a wave of transfers leaving the program in the off-season, including Tony Chennault, Tony Fields, and Carson Desrosiers, Wake Forest will be leaning more on a big freshman class to pick up the slack.

That freshman class includes seven players, within that is Top-100 guard Codi Miller-McIntyre, and Bzdelik has gotten a heard start on 2013 with a commitment from Top-100 player Greg McClinton.

Wake tied for last in the ACC last season, and another year like that could be the end for Bzdelik with the Demon Deacons.

Ben Howland, UCLA

Many thought that UCLA’s subpar season and the less-than-flattering Sports Illustrated story about the program could spell the end for Howland in Westwood. The thing is, had he been let go, that would have put in jeopardy the stellar recruiting class slated to come to the Bruins this fall.

This is Howland’s moment. Assuming Shabazz Muhammad is cleared to play, pending the results of an NCAA investigation into his initial eligibility, the Bruins have the collection of talent to make noise in the Pac-12.

Skeptics ask whether the pieces fit together, but this is the best chance UCLA and Howland could get to be a consistent Top 25 team.

Coaches Who Have Cooler Seats This Season

Stan Heath, USF

After being talked about as a coach possibly on the hot seat in 2011-12, Heath responded with a defensive-oriented team that went 22-14 and made a trip to the NCAA tournament. Look for guard Anthony Collins to continue to grow into one of the more effective point guards in the Big East after an impressive freshman season.

Andy Kennedy, Ole Miss

Kennedy got a contract extension through 2014 after winning 20 games with the Rebels in 2011-12. He has a solid 2012 recruiting class coming in, which should help, including Anthony Cortesia, Martavious Newby, and Terry Brutus.

Craig Robinson, Oregon State

Robinson, the brother-in-law of President Barack Obama, this month signed a contract extension through the 2016-17 season.

His Beavers won the CBI championship in his first season, but have since made two other CBI appearances, no NIT trips, and had no NCAA bids. They finished 7-11 in the Pac-12 conference last season and 21-15 overall.

Robinson will have to compensate for the loss of leading scorer Jared Cunningham, who left early for the NBA draft and was selected in the first round.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_