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Coaches sweating it out
Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis chatted with CNNSI.com about the goings-on in college basketball this week: CNNSI.com: What's going on with the coaching situation around the country? Is anyone in trouble now or could anyone be in trouble towards the end of the season? Seth Davis: There are a lot of guys in trouble now, actually. It's going to be a pretty active coaching carousel at the end of the year. Start with Mike Davis, the interim coach at Indiana. I still think that job is going to become available. Brian Ellerbe at Michigan is in very serious trouble -- Rick Pitino might be able to get that job. Steve Robinson down at Florida State, I heard that Bobby Knight might have his eye on that job potentially. Could you see him down in Tallahassee, next to Bobby Bowden? That could be an interesting combination. Bruiser Flint is hanging on at UMass and, of course, the sharks have been circling Steve Lavin for a long time at UCLA. I happen to think Lavin is going to survive but I wouldn't dare to predict what athletic director Peter Dalis is going to do out there. With those two big fish out there, Pitino and Knight, it's going to be a pretty interesting offseason to see how it all shakes out. CNNSI.com: Iowa State is 18-3. Life after Marcus Fizer seems to be going pretty well... Davis: No question. It's interesting. Last year it seemed as if Marcus Fizer was carrying Iowa State. Maybe Iowa State was carrying Marcus Fizer there a little bit, though. Larry Eustachy really has it going out there with strong veteran players, starting with the two guards. Everybody knows about Jamaal Tinsley, but I really think that Kantrail Horton might be the most underrated player in America. The thing that Eustachy has established down in Ames is a culture of physical and mental toughness. He really emphasizes that his players get strong not just in the offseason but during the season. In fact, he told his team after the win against Kansas, "You guys won this game in September." Iowa State is definitely for real and they're a team people aren't going to want to face in the tournament. CNNSI.com: What did you learn about Illinois and Michigan State after Tuesday night's clash? Davis: Those are two national championship contenders and I didn't see anything in that game that would make me think otherwise. I thought Michigan State had some defensive breakdowns that allowed Cory Bradford to get so open. Bradford is not great at creating his own shot; he's good at a set shot, when he is open. The Spartans don't quite have the mental toughness that they had last year. Obviously, they don't have Mateen Cleaves, who was one of the great leaders in college sports over the last 10 years. It's tough to replace three seniors -- Cleaves, A.J. Granger and Morris Peterson -- and it's very commendable on Tom Izzo's part that he has Michigan State back in the hunt so late in the season. CNNSI.com: For Oklahoma State, every day is another step towards getting on with life and basketball. Could you weigh in on what this team must be going through? Davis: I talked to Eddie Sutton Wednesday morning as the Cowboys were preparing to play Nebraska. What's good for Oklahoma State right now is that they're very much in the thick of getting an NCAA tournament bid -- even though they lost to the Cornhuskers and now have to go into Kansas on Saturday. Sutton really seemed to feel as if it were time to try and put the grieving behind them. He felt the team was in good spirits at their team meal Tuesday. They do have four of their last six games at home, even though the loss Wednesday night puts them in a four-way tie for fourth place in the league. I think it's a blessing that they have something to play for this late in the season. The question is, emotionally, how are they going to summon the energy to finish really strong? CNNSI.com: It's been a difficult year for Arizona. Loren Woods had the suspension early on, the team is still mourning the loss of Bobbi Olson. Recently the Wildcats lost to Oregon -- where are they right now? Davis: It's certainly no shame to lose at Oregon -- that happens to be one of the toughest courts to play at in the country. To me, Arizona is kind of an enigma at this point, especially Woods, who was suspended for a game by Lute Olson for showing a bad attitude in practice. The Wildcats aren't getting quite as much help from their bench as I thought they would coming into the season. You look at their starting five -- they have a wealth of talent, and you figure if they could just put it together, they could make a serious run at the championship. But this late in the year, mid-February, you really don't want to have the kind of problems they've been having with Woods, so it'll be interesting to see how they prepare themselves for March. CNNSI.com: Who do you think the best player is in the nation right now? Joseph Forte, Jason Williams, Shane Battier? Davis: You certainly start with those three. Joseph Forte is certainly coming on strong at this point in the year and in the first month and a half of the season Jason Williams was the clear favorite. My vote right now goes to Shane Battier, just because he does so many of the things you like to see in a player. But don't count out guys like Troy Murphy at Notre Dame and maybe, a sleeper here, Jason Richardson, the super sophomore at Michigan State. CNNSI.com: Is there more parity in the game this year? Davis: To me, it's a typical year in college basketball, particularly on the road. There's an old cliche that says there are no upsets on the road. That might be a little bit strong but, for example, Tennessee losing at Arkansas Wednesday night is really no shock even though the Vols were ranked in the top 10. You don't have that one dominant team like a UNLV in 1991 or a Duke in 1999, two teams that incidentally did not win the NCAA tournament. When you have the wealth spread out a little more, particularly at the top of the rankings, it makes for a much more exciting tournament. CNNSI.com: Some of the best stories in the NCAA tournament are those mid-level schools who turn out to be Cinderellas. Will we see some of them in the field or will they get squeezed out of the process? Davis: Those schools always get squeezed out. The process is rigged for the high, major powers; it was created by the high, major powers. I think at the end of the day you might have one, two at the most, at-large bid go to a mid-major school like a Butler, Creighton, Fresno State, maybe Georgia State. Schools like that really need to win their conference tournaments to take the decision out of the hands of the committee. It's a shame, since those types of schools make the tournament so special. CNNSI.com: What's happening with St. John's? With a 12-9 record so far, are the Johnnies NIT-bound? Davis: At this point, yes. There are a number of teams in the Big East -- St. John's, UConn, Seton Hall -- which could potentially miss the tournament. The one thing those three teams have in common is that their best players are freshmen. When you throw freshman point guards into the mix and have to win in the Big East, it's a hard road to climb in February and March, which St. John's is certainly finding out. Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis covers the college basketball beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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