N.C. State will be in the Atlantic Coast Conference's dreaded eight/nine play-in game for the fifth straight season. That will probably seal Robinson's fate.
The Wolfpack were awfully close to getting over the hump this year. They lost a bunch of really close games, but close just doesn't count.
What's more -- their best player, Todd Fuller, graduates after the season.
Robinson will likely resign during the week after the season ends. And then speculation on his replacement will center on people like Tulane's Perry Clark who has ACC experience as an assistant with Georgia Tech from 1982-88 or Old Dominion's Jeff Capel whose eldest son, Jeff, plays for Duke and whose youngest son, Jason, is one of the best high school junior's in the country.
Everybody will also mention Mike Jarvis for every important job -- the George Washington coach is that good.
A cooler hot seat
In the coaches not going department, Rutgers' Bob Wenzel will apparently be given a new contract because the Scarlet Knights have played so well down the stretch in their first Big East season.
Another reason for his probable new contract is Rutgers has a good shot at landing two in-state superstars for next season -- 6-foot-10 Tim Thomas and 5-foot-9 Shaheen Holloway.
As long as Wenzel, a Rutgers graduate, can put a competitive team on the court and have a chance at big name players coming out of New Jersey, he can survive at Rutgers.
James Madison's Lefty Driesell doesn't want a new contract. Apparently it will be his choice as to whether or not he wants to return to finish his contract next season.
Driesell turns 65 on Christmas Day and isn't even sure if he wants to coach anymore. But coming off his second losing season in 35 years, he will probably decide to come back for one last try.
Cruising Cardinal Before the season, if you had asked UCLA's Jim Harrick who had the most talent in the Pac-10, he would have answered California.
But in the same sentence he would have said Stanford has the best team in large part because of its great guards Dion Cross and Brevin Knight.
When a back injury knocked starting center Tim Young out for the season, though, the Cardinal went backwards and struggled throughout December and January.
But Stanford is playing its best ball of the season now. If it can finish strong, the Cardinal has a chance to enter the NCAA Tournament as a three- or four-seed.
If you are looking for a dark horse, Jim Harrick would tell you it might be Stanford.
Cyclones swirl toward tournament
When your leading returning scorer from a year ago averaged just one point, you don't expect big things in the coming season. That's why Iowa State was universally picked for last place in the Big Eight conference in the pre-season.
Where are the Cyclones now? They're headed for the NCAA Tournament. That's in spite of the fact coach Tim Floyd has a brand new team and his leading scorers, Dedric Willoughby and Kenny Pratt, are both transfer students.
Coming out of the Big Eight, the Cyclones will be in the NCAA Tournament only behind Kansas.
I think Floyd deserves some serious consideration for coach of the year -- don't you?
