College basketball coaching hot seat: Five coaches under pressure entering a pivotal 2026-27 season

It’s not the best place to be before a game has even been played, but these five coaches already have a lot to prove to save their jobs

CBS Sports' annual list of the Top 25 And 1 college basketball coaches published Monday. It's a list shaped by a vote of writers and analysts, one filled with Naismith Memorial Hall of Famers and future Naismith Memorial Hall of Famers. Because this is our annual list of five coaches on the hot seat — a list that, to be clear, should not be interpreted as a prediction of five coaches who will lose their jobs during or after the 2026-27 season. That's not what this is. Rather, this is simply a list of five coaches who likely need good seasons relative to their program's expectations to ensure they still have their jobs in April.

It's a list of five men living with real job-pressure. Sure, they're all multimillionaires who will receive lucrative buyouts if they're removed — and that's certainly better than the alternative. But getting publicly scrutinized and criticized on the way to what amounts to a pink slip is never fun, no matter a person's net worth. They might ultimately adjust to not working and actually enjoy the new lifestyle — and that buyout money is always nice. But the journey from here to there, from a hot seat list in October to a termination in March, is often a brutal ride that takes an awful toll