NCAA Basketball: UCLA’s rise, overrated Texas Tech, and more takeaways

3) Is Shaka Smart saving his job?

Speaking of the team that knocked off Texas Tech on Saturday, Texas put themselves back in the bubble mix with that victory. The Longhorns still have work to do with upcoming games against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, but they’ve put themselves back in the mix.

That, of course, has brought the question of Shaka Smart‘s future with the program back to the forefront.

It looked like he was absolutely going to be fired just two weeks ago when a road loss to Iowa State dropped the Longhorns to 14-11 on the season and 4-8 in Big 12 play. Since then, Texas has won four games in a row including upsets over ranked West Virginia and Texas Tech teams this week.

Has this run been enough for Smart to keep his job?

That’s a complicated question with multiple layers. If they miss the tournament, absolutely not. If the Longhorns do make the tournament, I still think Smart is likely on the way out barring a run to at least the Sweet 16.

What this does do, however, is not make it impossible for Texas to bring Smart back in the right situation. The Longhorns will gauge interest from top candidates (i.e. Beard, John Beilein) and, if one of them is interested, Texas will make a move. Yet if they aren’t interested and no other clear candidate emerges (potentially Gregg Marshall or Greg McDermott), they may opt for another year of Smart to avoid the embarrassment of a long coaching search and paying his buyout.

I’ll still be very surprised if Smart is back on the sidelines for Texas next year, but he has given himself a fighting chance.