NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early hot seat power rankings for 2021-22

1. Bruce Weber

There may not be a coach sitting on a hotter seat than Kansas State’s Bruce Weber, whose tenure with the Wildcats – which is set to hit 10 seasons this coming campaign – has been less than ideal.  With five NCAA Tournament berths and just one of those yielding a run past the opening round – the odd one out being 2018’s miraculous run to the Elite Eight – Weber has struggled in keeping the Wildcats out of the basement of the Big 12 the last two seasons.

Kansas State’s 2019-20 team may have been one of the more disappointing squads in the country, having come off a year where they claimed a stake for the Big 12 regular season title and, despite significant roster losses, returned a double-digit weapon in Xavier Sneed.  Instead, the Wildcats logged one of the worst seasons in their time in the Big 12, going 3-15 and finishing last in conference play.

With the exception of finishing ninth instead of 10th, last year was much of the same – the Wildcats finished 4-14 in league play, and 9-20 overall, marking the first time that Weber ever recorded single-digit wins in his coaching career.  It was a season with nearly zero highlights, including narrow single-digit wins over Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Omaha, a double-digit home loss to Div. II Fort Hays State, and a 13-game losing streak.

There is a bit of breathing room heading into next season, however – the Wildcats won four of their final six games, and put up an impressive showing against eventual national champs Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament.  Additionally, Kansas State sports a solid young core, headlined by Nijel Pack – and will bring in a solid lineup of transfers, including Missouri’s Mark Smith, Wake Forest’s Ismael Massoud, and Little Rock’s Markquis Nowell.

Climbing back into the upper echelons of the Big 12 – especially after the conference just sported seven teams in the NCAA Tournament, including the national champions – will be difficult, but failure to do so may finally put Weber’s job in jeopardy in what will be Year 10.

Additionally, Weber’s Wildcats have finished in the upper half of the league just three times – meaning success has not been on his side.  With Iowa State finally making a coaching change, Bruce Weber is the final coaching hold-out of the two bottom teams – and time will tell if that changes in the coming year.