Pac-12 comes out on losing end in coaching carousal
With the announcement of Archie Miller's hiring by Indiana to try to turn the Hoosiers' program around, all Power 5 vacancies have been filled.
Now that the dust has settled - for the moment - it's time to assess the landscape.
Big Ten takes a big step
The Big Ten has been a punching bag this season, which was made clear when the Selection Committee didn't have a single team in their top 16 bracket preview.
Then, after the end of the regular season and conference tournaments, no team was seeded higher than No. 4, with the average of the seven NCAA tournament teams being a No. 7 seed.
As the only Power 5 conference with no teams left in the Big Dance, the conference is hoping the hires of Brad Underwood (Illinois) and Miller will do what Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, and James Franklin did for the conference in football a few years ago.
Also notable is Underwood's move from one Power 5 school (Oklahoma State) to another, especially since his offense led the country in scoring and made an NCAA tournament appearance.
SEC lands top recruit
The SEC also had two openings and joined the Big Ten in being able to poach a sitting head coach from a Power 5 conference.
Cuonzo Martin left Cal for Missouri and brought with him the nation's top 2017 recruit in Michael Porter Jr. after Porter's father, former Washington assistant Michael Porter Sr., joined Martin's staff.
Over at LSU, Will Wade joins the Tigers after making two tournament appearances in two seasons with VCU. Wade was Shaka Smart's first hire when Smart was named head coach of the Rams in 2009.
ACC welcomes hot shot coach
The ACC had only one opening after Mark Gottfried was notified during the season by NC State that he would not return next year.
In comes Kevin Keatts, a former assistant with Louisville's 2013 national championship team who most recently held the head coaching job at UNC Wilmington from 2014-2017, making two straight NCAA tournaments and compiling a 72-28 record.
Pac-12 left outside on the curb
Out west, the Pac-12 also had two openings, but the coaches who filled them left a lot to be desired.
Washington brought in long time Syracuse assistant, and anointed Jim Boeheim successor, Mike Hopkins.
Before the firing of Lorenzo Romar, Washington had Porter Jr. signed, along with four-star recruits Blake Harris, Daejon Davis, and Jaylen Nowell.
After firing Romar, Harris was granted his release, followed by Porter Jr., who followed his father to Missouri.
The lifeline of any program is recruiting and the first order of business for Hopkins was to reach out to the current recruiting class.
However, Hopkins did not speak with the Porters, as the nation's No. 1 recruit was not the right fit, according to John McGrath of the Tacoma News.
Further south down the I-5, Cal promoted within, tagging Wyking Jones to replace Martin.
Jones gives Cal two head coaches in the two biggest sports of basketball and football with zero experience of being a head coach, joining Justin Wilcox.
Where the Big Ten hired proven coaches, the SEC took both a coach and the No. 1 player from the Pac-12. The conference is left behind to reassess where it stands in the college basketball world.
The Pac-12 has the school with the most national championships (UCLA) and includes one of the most fertile states for talent (California), but for one reason or another, it has not seen an NCAA title in 20 years.
One could point to decisions like these two hirings as part of the reason why.
(Photos Courtesy: Action Images)