NCAA Basketball: 10 coaches that may get fired or leave after 2022-23 season

Mark Pope – BYU Cougars

So I mentioned before that there are candidates to not only get fired but potentially leave on their own. Pope has a good chance to be of the ladder, due to the situation of BYU going to the Big 12 next season. The Cougars have the most NCAA Tournament appearances without making it to the Final Four during their time in the WAC, Mountain West, and WCC.

But going from the WCC to the Big 12 is an incredible leap, that that’ll take plenty of time to adjust. And they don’t have a ton of talent on the current roster to begin with, now under .500 in league play. And with losses to South Dakota and Pepperdine, there’s a good chance that this team won’t even make the NIT.

The last time that happened to BYU was in 2019, which was the last year in the Dave Rose era. Pope followed and he certainly won’t be on the hot seat this year but there has to be some questions as to whether or not he can succeed. And with the Honor Code and other potential limitations that’ll affect his ability to get power conference-level talent, could he have reached his peak with the Cougars?

Coach Pope was a rumored candidate for the Arizona job before Tommy Lloyd got it and he is a former player at both Kentucky and Washington. It’s unlikely he’ll get the Wildcats even if John Caliapri moved on but the Huskies could be a realistic move depending on what happens this offseason.