College Basketball Coaches on the Hot Seat at the Start of Conference Play

The conference season isn't just when teams build or botch their postseason resumes, it's when coaches make or break their careers. And while it may be too soon to officially label some coaches as being on the hot seat, a few need to get things into gear in league play in order to keep their seats from getting warmer.

We've identified 10 coaches from major programs who, based on past season performances and how this year has started out, will be under heavy scrutiny throughout conference play. A few could end up getting fired, while others might be headed in that direction in the near future.

A lot can happen between now and mid-March, but right now these are the coaches who need to make something happen.

Steve Alford, UCLA

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Year at school: 2nd

Record at school: 35-16

2014-15 record: 8-7, 0-2 Pac-12

Steve Alford is no way in danger of getting fired, especially with a contract that calls for him to get $10.4 million if he's let go within the first three years, but that doesn't mean the school's choice to replace Ben Howland isn't getting met with mounting criticism.

Following Sunday's 71-39 loss at Utah, UCLA has lost five in a row. That's the program's longest losing streak since 2009-10, and the skid has included two 30-point defeats and no outcome better than losing by six.

Alford was a big winner at New Mexico, averaging nearly 26 wins in six seasons, though he never made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. His final game with the Lobos was an upset at the hands of 14th-seeded Harvard, which came shortly after he'd agreed to a 10-year contract extension...only to quickly back out of that deal to go to UCLA.

UCLA won 28 games and reached the Sweet 16 in Alford's first season, but that team was primarily made of players Howland had recruited. This is the first team with mostly his own players, since the Bruins saw three guys leave early and get taken in the first round of the NBA draft.

Adding to the heat on Alford is that UCLA's leading scorer is his son, sophomore guard Bryce Alford. He's averaging 15.7 points and 5.9 assists per game, but he went scoreless against Utah and has made only 10 of his last 50 shots (including 5 of 28 from three-point range).

Andy Enfield, USC

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Year at school: 2nd

Record at school: 19-27

2014-15 record: 8-6, 0-2 Pac-12

Coaches in this slideshow are listed alphabetically, which coincidentally means the first two are from the Pac-12. Not coincidental is that they're both from the league's Los Angeles-based programs, and how each made big waves with their coaching choices two years ago that have turned into tidal waves of skepticism.

While UCLA's Steve Alford had a good first season and is not slipping, USC coach Andy Enfield has yet to make any progress. Hired after only two seasons at upstart Florida Gulf Coast—where he parlayed the team's "Dunk City" run to the Sweet 16 in 2012-13 into this new job—Enfield has won only two of 21 games against Pac-12 opponents, including losses by 24 and 21 points this weekend.

It's not just a conference game issue. This season the Trojans lost at home to Portland State and Army, and two of his top three scorers are shooting 38 percent or worse.

USC has a fancy on-campus arena, no longer relegated to playing in the Los Angeles Sports Arena, but even the new place is becoming mostly empty as the on-court product fails to match the facility's flair.

Leonard Hamilton, Florida State

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Year at school: 13th

Record at school: 249-163

2014-15 record: 8-6, 0-1 ACC

As the winningest coach in school history, Leonard Hamilton has kept Florida State a relevant program during his dozen years at the helm. But the Seminoles have rarely been more than just in the discussion, making just one Sweet 16 appearance during Hamilton's tenure and looking like they're headed to a third straight year without an NCAA tournament bid.

FSU has lost home games to Northeastern and Nebraska and also fell at SEC doormat Mississippi State, and needed Florida to accidentally tip in a shot for it to win that rivalry game at home last week. The performance has wavered from game to game, which isn't a recipe for success in the ACC with its plethora of ranked teams.

It hasn't helped that leading scorer Aaron Thomas was declared ineligible in mid-December, while guard Devon Bookert missed five games due to injury.

FSU has a potential program-defining recruiting class coming in, a group ranked fifth by 247Sports and led by 5-star guard Dwayne Bacon, and that might be one of Hamilton's saving graces to remain in Tallahassee beyond this season.  

Andy Kennedy, Ole Miss

SKIP PETERSON/Associated Press

Year at school: 9th

Record at school: 180-104

2014-15 record: 9-4, 0-0 SEC

Beyond Kentucky, the SEC is wide open and ripe for the taking. Ole Miss figured to be one of the teams to challenge for a top-tier spot after shedding a troublesome star and bringing in some talented transfers, but based on the inconsistency of nonconference play that might not be the case.

The Rebels have dropped three home games, opening the season with a shocking loss to Charleston Southern by giving up a putback dunk at the buzzer. The other defeats were to TCU—which started 13-0 this season but was 0-18 in the Big 12 last year—and Western Kentucky.

The wins to counter those setbacks have been impressive, beating Cincinnati and Creighton at a tournament in Florida and winning at Oregon. But which team will show up when Ole Miss opens SEC play Tuesday at top-ranked Kentucky, or four days later at home against South Carolina?

Andy Kennedy doesn't have the distraction of mercurial guard Marshall Henderson to worry about, but senior guard Jarvis Summers has seen his three-point shooting drop from 42.3 to 27.5 percent. Ole Miss' top scorer has been former Florida Atlantic guard Stefan Moody, at 13.9 points per game, but he's shooting only 37.5 percent from the field.

Steve Lavin, St. John's

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Year at school: 5th

Record at school: 82-63

2014-15 record: 11-3, 0-2 Big East

Was another solid nonconference performance yet again fool's gold for St. John's? Early returns on Big East play are saying so.

A year after starting 0-5 in the conference (following a 9-3 start in non-league play), the Red Storm have squandered any momentum gained from an 11-1 record and a win at Syracuse by opening the Big East with back-to-back losses. The Dec. 31 loss at Seton Hall was understandable, but falling at home Saturday to Butler was not.

With a veteran lineup that's been seemingly on the cusp of greatness for a few seasons, this was supposed to be St. John's year to break through. But turmoil has abounded, most recently the departure of sophomore guard Rysheed Jordan because of personal reasons.

Jordan, second on the team in scoring at 14 points per game, missed Saturday's game but could return Tuesday against Villanova, according to Bleacher Report's Jason King. 

The Big East is looking better than expected this season, which could mean Steve Lavin's window to get something done there is closing.

Josh Pastner, Memphis

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Year at school: 6th

Record at school: 138-49

2014-15 record: 8-5, 1-1 American

Both as an assistant at Arizona and Memphis, Josh Pastner established a reputation as one of the top recruiters in the country. It's why Memphis didn't hesitate to elevate him to the head coaching position when John Calipari left for Kentucky six years ago.

The on-court results have been mostly good, but with no trips beyond the first weekend of the NCAA tournament and a rough start to 2014-15, Pastner's leeway might be running out.

The Tigers showed warning signs of a tumultuous season even before their first official game, losing an exhibition to Division II Christian Brothers. Since then, Memphis has fallen five times despite not yet playing a true road game, losing at home to Stephen F. Austin last month and then dropping one in the FedExForum on Saturday to Tulane.

The American Athletic Conference has looked pretty pathetic this year, with Louisville no longer around and defending NCAA champ Connecticut struggling. Memphis should be in the mix to capitalize on this, but the results haven't been there.

Oliver Purnell, DePaul

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Year at school: 5th

Record at school: 50-84

2014-15 record: 8-7, 2-0 Big East

Of all the coaches on this list, Oliver Purnell is the only one that's actually on an upswing at this point. DePaul is actually tied atop the Big East with Seton Hall after winning at home against Marquette and Xavier by a combined six points, reversing a six-game losing streak that included getting swept in three games at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.

Those wins give Purnell a whopping 11 in four-plus seasons in the Big East, never more than three in any year. His getting retained following last year's 12-21 record was a huge shock. After DePaul seemed to have squandered a nice early win over Stanford by dropping six in a row, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Watkins wouldn't make it through another offseason.

Watkins had only five losing records across 22 seasons at Radford, Old Dominion, Dayton and Clemson, but he's yet to finish above .500 at DePaul. The 2-0 start is nice, but it'll take a lot more to keep his job safe.

Rick Ray, Mississippi State

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Year at school: 3rd

Record at school: 31-47

2014-15 record: 7-6, 0-0 SEC

Mississippi State made six NCAA tournament appearances under Rick Stansbury from 2002-09, but it's been slim pickings since then. Stansbury's retirement after the 2012 season provided a chance to turn things in a different direction, but first-time head coach Rick Ray hasn't made much progress in that department.

At 7-6, the Bulldogs are actually three games worse than last season, when they went 10-3 in nonconference play and opened the SEC with three wins in five games before losing 13 in a row. This year they've already had a five-game skid, including losses to Arkansas State and South Carolina Upstate, and on Dec. 30 lost by 19 at home to McNeese State.

MSU was picked to finish last in the SEC this season, yet the way the conference (beyond Kentucky) has struggled in non-league play the chance for a rise up the standings should seem possible. But after opening Wednesday at home against Tennessee, the Bulldogs have to visit Florida and Texas A&M.

Dave Rice, UNLV

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Year at school: 4th

Record at school: 80-37

2014-15 record: 9-5, 0-1 Mountain West

He has won 20 or more games every season he's been in charge, yet Dave Rice's hold on the UNLV job seems to be slipping if you listen to what skeptics say about what he's done with the Runnin' Rebels.

Replacing Lon Kruger after he left for Oklahoma, Rice has seen his win total drop each year, from 26 in 2011-12 to 20 last season, when UNLV didn't make the NCAA tourney. Rice was able to land the No. 5 recruiting class in the country, per 247Sports, and that five-man group accounts for more than 74 percent of UNLV's scoring.

Yet the Rebels have four double-digit losses, most recently falling by 15 at Kansas on Sunday after leading midway through the second half. They've also pulled out three wins by two points or less against subpar opponents, and are the only team to have beat Arizona.

ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf listed UNLV as the toughest D-I job in the country, mostly because of the locale, but there's more to it. The Mountain West is a hard league in which to win on the road—UNLV fell at Wyoming on Dec. 31—and as Las Vegas becomes a bigger recruiting hotbed the Rebels are struggling to keep the best kids from leaving town.

It helps that the city's top basketball program, Bishop Gorman, is coached by Rice's brother, Grant Rice.

Bruce Weber, Kansas State

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Year at school: 3rd

Record at school: 54-28

2014-15 record: 7-7, 0-1 Big 12

Bruce Weber coached Illinois to the NCAA title game in 2005, his second season after replacing Bill Self. Since then he's been mostly riding the street cred that season brought him, which enabled him to stay at Illinois for seven more up-and-down seasons before getting let go in March 2012.

He got a second chance with Kansas State, which surprisingly lost Frank Martin to South Carolina, and he won 47 games in his first two seasons with the Wildcats. Neither of those years included an NCAA tournament win, though, and despite having a promising roster with young and veteran talent to work with this season, it's been a very disappointing first two months.

K-State is the only team in the Big 12 that doesn't have at least 10 wins, and it's on a three-game losing streak after dropping its conference opener at Oklahoma State on Saturday. Before that were home losses to Georgia and Texas Southern.

There are six ranked teams in the Big 12, so easy wins aren't aplenty. The Wildcats host TCU and Texas Tech in the next 10 days, two of their best chances to steal wins.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.