Five New Coaches To Lead Arizona, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama

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Every March Madness, there is a sub-story to the main plot. And that is the programs who didn't get there and are out to replace their head coaches.

This year, there are some exceptional opportunities awaiting the right people. Two of the best all-time programs are open: Kentucky and Arizona. 

An ACC program with incredible brand new basketball facilities is open: Virginia. 

And two SEC schools looking to turn around their reputations as "football schools" are open: Alabama and Georgia.

So who is going where? 

This is my attempt to answer these questions for you, dear reader. I have here a clear crystal ball that will tell me exactly how all of this will play out! (If only.)

First, I see a new coach in Arizona. It's a coach you've heard of, a proven winner. It's none other than...Rick Pitino. That's right, the man who just blew out Arizona in the Big Dance is going to come back and coach them next year.

Why would he do this? 

For one, Pitino doesn't like to stay in one place too long. He's been in Louisville for eight years, he was at Kentucky for eight years, and he was with the Celtics, the Providence Friars, and the Boston Terriers for shorter tenures.

Also, Pitino wants to retire in the sun. Arizona is as nice a place to retire as any...wouldn't you want to retire there?

Furthermore, Pitino loves rebuilding projects. Arizona needs some rebuilding right about now...and it's an easy place to do it. It's got a great basketball tradition, has a sunny location that recruits love, and it competes in the Pac-10.

So that could leave Louisville with an opening, yet my crystal ball only has information on current openings. Ahem.

Down the road in Lexington, I think the new UK coach will be either John Calipari or Billy Donovan. It's a high-stress job in Kentucky with lots of pressure. 

Only a certain personality type can thrive on that type of pressure, and I think Calipari and Donovan (and Pitino) are the only coaches capable of it.

Billy Boy will again be the top target, and the Gators are a little down right now so it might be a good time to jump. But at the end of the day, I think Donovan realizes that he's already accomplished everything at Florida (back to back NCAA Tournament Championships) so what advantage is there in moving to Kentucky?

Just more pressure to cook you with, and I don't think any coach truly wants that.

My crystal ball sees the Cats with John Calipari. While he has accomplished much at Memphis, I think he feels his coaching resume will never be complete without winning in a "real" conference. He thrives in the spotlight and wants to be "big time" like his hero Pitino, so the Kentucky job is a good fit for him.

On to Virginia. This is an ACC program that has really struggled to find its identity since the heady 1980s and early 1990s, when they went to two Final Fours and five Elite Eights. 

One little known fact is that for the entire decade of the 80s, Virginia won more ACC games than Duke—and this was the golden decade in which Coach K got established at Duke and won a record 37 games in 1985-86.

But that was then, this is now. Virginia won a regular season ACC Championship in 2007, but that has proved an aberration. 

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