2010 NCAA Basketball Coach of the Year Candidates

The 2009-10 NCAA basketball season has been a topsy-turvy year. Who would have thought that three of the four #1 seeds in the 2009 NCAA tournament would be fighting to get in to the 2010 NCAA tournament? That's where we're at though with Louisville, Uconn, and North Carolina all being considered bubble teams at best at the time of this writing. We've also had some surprises this season with Syracuse being one of the leading teams in the Big East, Coach Cal starting out 24-1 at Kentucky, and Wisconsin being one of the Big 10 power houses. The following is a listing of how I hold the 2010 NCAA basketball coach of the year candidates.

2010 NCAA Basketball Coach of the Year Candidates

#1 2010 NCAA Basketball Coach of the Year Candidate - John Calipari

Memphis Tiger fans say Coach Cal deserted the team for his dream job in Kentucky. Be that as it may, he has delivered for Kentucky fans this year. After two years of under-performing and failing to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in 18 years in 2009 (with barely getting in to the dance in 2008), Calipari has the Wildcats off to a 24-1 start. Undefeated in conference play with three freshmen starting, Kentucky is poised to enter the NCAA tournament as a #1 seed this year. They also look to have 3 and maybe 4 first round NBA draft picks on this year's squad in John Wall, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe, and DeMarcus Cousins.

#2 2010 NCAA Basketball Coach of the Year Candidate - Jim Boeheim

Coach Boeheim was supposed to be re-loading this year, however, Syracuse is off to a 24-2 start and battling Villanova for the Big East lead. The Orangemen will be a #1 or #2 seed depending on how many losses they accumulate the remainder of the season, but that is significantly ahead of where they were picked to be this year. Coach Boeheim's last appearance in the NCAA title game was in 2003 when his team won. Look for Syracuse to be a factor in the 2010 tournament.

#3 2010 NCAA Basketball Coach of the Year Candidate - Bo Ryan

Not many people picked Wisconsin to be a NCAA tournament team this year, let alone one of the best teams in the highly talented Big 10. The Badgers were 19-6/9-4 at the time of this writing and only need one more conference win to equal last year's total. Not only has Coach Ryan gotten his team to the top of the conference, but look for him to take Wisconsin deeper than the 2^nd round performance they had in 2009.

#4 2010 NCAA Basketball Coach of the Year Candidate - Steve Donahue

Steve Donahue has been the Cornell basketball coach since the 2000-01 season and is coming off of back to back Ivy League championships. This season, his team has been ranked and off to a 21-4 start. They also have some big non-conference victories over Alabama, Umass, Drexel, Buckness, Davidson, St. John's, and just about upset Kansas on the road. If Cornell can close out the Ivy as expected, Coach Donahue deserves to be in the running for the Coach of the Year Honors.

#5 2010 NCAA Basketball Coach of the Year Candidate - Bill Self

Coach Self is just two seasons removed from winning the NCAA title and has helped his team live up to their pre-season hype. The Kansas Jayhawks have started 24-1 and look to almost be a lock for a #1 seed in the 2010 NCAA tournament. On a team loaded with talent like the Jayhawks, keeping them performing throughout the year is no easy task. Coach Self might just be the top candidate for the Coach of the Year honors come the end of the season.