Former Utah coach Rick Majerus has expressed interest in the coaching vacancy at USC. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

I had several lengthy conversations with Rick Majerus early this year after he abruptly decided to step down as the coach at Utah. Majerus, who missed most of the 1989-90 season following heart bypass surgery, made the decision on Jan. 27, after experiencing pain in his chest that was radiating down his left arm. He immediately jetted off to Santa Barbara, Calif., to see a doctor, who told Majerus that "under no circumstances" was he to return to his team.

During our talks, Majerus told me he knew he had let himself go, he understood he had to lose weight and change his troubadour lifestyle. He wasn't so much scared as wistful during those chats, speaking of things he missed out on during his all-encompassing life as a basketball coach. He knew my wife was pregnant with our first child, and he told me he regretted not starting a family of his own. A lot of Majerus' friends were happy he was getting out of the coaching dodge. As one of them put it to me, "He's right where I want him to be -- focused on his health."

So when I heard last week that USC athletic director Mike Garrett was interested in hiring Majerus, 56, to replace the fired Henry Bibby, my first reaction was Majerus wouldn't take the job. Obviously, I was wrong. Majerus immediately made it known he was interested, so much so he flew to Los Angeles to meet with USC officials and watch the Trojans play Fresno State on Dec. 8. When I spoke with Majerus Monday night, he declined to elaborate on the specifics of the process, but he reiterated his strong interest in the vacancy. "It's the only job I would entertain in the whole country," he said. "It's a great academic school. I like that the athletic director was a player, and I like what they're building there. It's a great situation and a great place to live."

I asked Majerus if he had resolved the health issues that forced him to leave Utah less than a year ago. "Trust me, if I had any concern over my health, I wouldn't even be doing the television work I'm doing now," he said. "I don't think I'm ever going to be a 42 regular, but I've lost some weight, and my health is good. One thing I've done is I've tried to eat better. Wherever I live, I'm going to hire a cook and get a house."

Majerus certainly knows more about his health than I do, and he's a grown-up who's capable of making his own decisions. But I can't help but wonder whether he's about to rush back into that same destructive lifestyle. Majerus gets a lot of mileage out of his Falstaff shtick, but there's nothing funny about being overweight and experiencing chest pains.

Majerus told me he has heard the same concerns from some of his friends. "It's easy to have an opinion about somebody else's life," he said. "If you asked 10 people about the work you do, you'd probably get 10 different opinions."

To be sure, it's not definite Majerus will be the next coach at USC. In the first place, there are other good candidates, most notably Pepperdine coach Paul Westphal, a USC alum who played and coached in the NBA. There's also the matter of Majerus' current gig as an ESPN analyst. He wants to honor his contract with the network through the end of the season, but Garrett has said he'd like the coaching search to be completed within the next two weeks. Majerus could agree to accept the job effective at season's end, but word has it ESPN might not be interested in retaining Majerus under those circumstances out of concern it would compromise his ability to be candid on the air.

Majerus is right that USC is an attractive job, especially now that the school has finally broken ground on a new arena scheduled to open in the fall of '06. (Westphal often jokes that the new arena was promised to him when USC recruited him out of Aviation High School in Redondo Beach, Calif., in 1968.) But is USC really the only situation Majerus would be interested in? If the Indiana job came open, I think Majerus, who enjoyed great success as head coach at Ball State from '87-89, would be interested. If his alma mater Marquette came calling, I'm guessing Majerus would be interested.

The fact is, there are a lot of good jobs out there. Rick Majerus simply wants to coach again. Regardless of how the USC situation shakes out, it's apparent he is going to get his wish soon. I just hope it's not too soon.

Pick for the Pickoff!

MAILBAG Seth Davis will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his Hoop Thoughts column. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Andy Greider of Stone Mountain, Ga., (favorite Radiators song: Like Dreamers Do) acquitted himself well last week by going 7-3. Unfortunately, that didn't quite match up against yours truly's sterling 9-1 record -- the lone slip-up being my prediction that Notre Dame would beat DePaul. (Andy incorrectly picked Indiana over Kentucky and Pepperdine over UCLA.) That gives me a three-game lead over the readers' picks, but it's early. See if you can close the gap by picking the following 10 games. Be sure to provide a few sentences to explain your prediction in the featured game, as well as your name, your hometown and your favorite Radiators song.

Please note these predictions are made for the sole purpose of entertaining readers of Hoop Thoughts and should not be used as the basis for any actual cash wager.

Featured game

Texas at Wake Forest

The rest of the picks

Georgia Tech at Gonzaga

Oklahoma vs. Duke at Madison Square Garden

Kentucky at Louisville

Arizona at Marquette

Mississippi State at Xavier

Michigan at UCLA

Pepperdine at Bradley

N.C. State at Washington

Indiana at Missouri

Other Hoop Thoughts

• I can't help but roll my eyes at the news that both St. John's and Ohio State have placed self-imposed postseason bans on their basketball teams as a result of recent NCAA violations. It's not like either of those clubs was headed for much of a postseason.

• For teams that have good talent and seem to be well-coached, Florida State and Providence really know how to stink up a gym. The Seminoles have already dropped games this season to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Kent State and TCU, and they lost at home on Sunday to Florida International. Providence, meanwhile, lost for the fourth time in its last six games on Saturday by falling to Wichita State at home, 90-86. The Friars also lost at home to Winthrop on Nov. 30. Ouch!

• It's hard to remember the last time a promising team was more decimated by injuries this early than Michigan is. The Wolverines will have to play for at least another month without two of their starters, point guard Daniel Horton and power forward Graham Brown, and last year's top scorer, Lester Abram, is out for the rest of the year. This team had legitimate designs on making the NCAA tournament, but it will be hard to salvage this season.

• This week's BTYT (Better Than You Think) award goes to Iowa State guard Will Blalock. He's 5-foot-11 and is more of a natural point guard than his fellow sophomore backcourt mate, Curtis Stinson. Blalock is averaging 15.2 points, 4.0 rebounds points and 3.6 assists, and he kept the Cyclones close against Iowa on Friday night after Stinson fouled out early in the second half.

Duke freshman DeMarcus Nelson is averaging 6.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. AP

• Duke freshman guard DeMarcus Nelson has had two straight solid outings (albeit against weak competition), going for 25 points and 15 rebounds against Valparaiso and Toledo. Nelson missed several weeks of preseason practice because of a hand injury, but his return will make a huge difference for the Blue Devils if he can consistently give them a scoring lift off the bench.

• Most overused play-by-play call: "Nothing but net!" At least two-thirds of the time when someone says that, the ball hit something besides the net.

• Could someone please explain to me how Pittsburgh football coach Walt Harris goes from supposedly on the hot seat to getting the Stanford job within a matter of weeks?

• I really enjoy watching those old 60 Minutes sports segments on ESPN Classic.

• I'm told Don Haskins, the legendary former UTEP coach, spent exactly one day this summer visiting the set of the movie being made about his '66 Texas Western team that upset Kentucky to win the NCAA title. He came into New Orleans to watch the shoot, then spent the rest of his time there fishing. Also, the Bear's son, Steve, recently made it to the final stages of the PGA Tour's Qualifying school but failed to earn his card. Steve has been to the final stage about a dozen times, and he is the all-time leader in events played for the Nationwide Tour. You gotta wonder what keeps him going.

• I had to smile at Madison Square Garden last week when Oklahoma State freshman guard JamesOn Curry got a standing ovation after his first rotation on the court. Moments later, Syracuse guard Billy Edelin got a similar response when he came onto the court and handled the ball for the first time. Those are two guys who have had more than their share of personal troubles. I hope there's more applause where that came from.

• N.C. State can be really good, but the Wolfpack have to be careful not to become Julius Hodge and the Hodgettes.

• Speaking of Syracuse, every year we hear Hakim Warrick has added range to his offensive game, yet through the Orange's first nine games he was 2 for 7 from 3-point range. Even a 15- or 17-foot jumper from Warrick once in a while would do wonders for Syracuse's offensive sets, but he doesn't seem willing or able to provide that.

• I wonder if Arizona's Hassan Adams, who is 6-4, is the shortest player who jumps the opening tap for a major team.

• Amusing stat pointed out to me on press row at MSG by Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News: Cincinnati point guard Jihad Muhammad has played 190 minutes in six games and has a total of 14 assists.

• I don't know if anybody's still wringing his hands over the idea of broadcasting high school games on national television, but let me say once again I have absolutely no problem with it.

• I swear I've never spoken to a coach who didn't think his team was playing an excruciatingly difficult schedule.

• If you're picking an All-America team right now, your three guards would have to be Rashad McCants (North Carolina), Travis Diener (Marquette) and Nate Robinson (Washington). And you could do worse than select Diener as your national player of the year.

• Did you notice that UCLA freshman point guard Jordan Farmar had his breakout game Saturday against Pepperdine? He had 25 points in the 85-83 home win, including two late clutch free throws and the game-winning basket on a spinning drive and bank shot with 4.7 seconds remaining. I'm telling you, this kid is one dynamic talent. Think Mike Bibby with a little more height and better skills.

• I was truly happy for Steve Lappas and UMass, who knocked off UConn last week. But if UConn had come back and won because Rashaun Freeman ran into the stands with four seconds still left on the clock, the play would have gone into the time capsule right next to Jim Marshall's wrong-way TD for the Minnesota Vikings in '64.

• There's no denying Carl Krauser is Pitt's most important player, but I've been very, very impressed by how much 6-7 senior forward Chevon Troutman has improved his offensive game. Troutman is actually Pitt's leading scorer (16.0 average) and is making a whopping 65.2 percent of his shots. And that's not just because all his attempts are around the basket.

• One of the many reasons why Stanford is struggling: The Cardinal have made a total of 13 3-point field goals this season.

Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis covers college basketball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Davis' first book, Equinunk, Tell Your Story: My Return to Summer Camp, is available through Chandler House Press.