Coach of the Year candidates: Eight make for great debate

I don't penalize coaches for recruiting well.

That would be silly.

The word coach in Coach of the Year should encompass all aspects of the job, and the most important aspect of coaching college basketball is recruiting. No, getting great prospects doesn't guarantee success. But it's difficult to win without them, which is why it's crucial to get them, and I'm not interested in discounting a coach's odds of earning awards because he happens to be great at luring recruits.

So that's the first thing you need to know about this Coach of the Year race. The second thing you need to know is that it's wide open, way different than our Player of the Year race that's basically between two players and probably headed toward Ohio State's Evan Turner. The Coach of the Year race could reasonably go to at least eight different men in five different leagues, and those are the numbers I hit after an internal debate that lasted much of Tuesday morning.

It really is a tight race.

A winner will be awarded here next week.

But for now, let's just look at eight leading candidates.

(Candidates listed in alphabetical order.)

Steve Alford, New Mexico

The case: The Lobos were fifth in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll, and now they're eighth in the AP poll with a 27-3 record sparked by junior college transfer Darington Hobson, one of the stars of college basketball most fans haven't seen. Meantime, the school Alford left under pressure three years ago -- i.e., Iowa -- will finish eighth or worse in the Big Ten for the third straight year, point being that though the grass has proven greener for Alford, it's obviously not for the Iowa fans who wanted him gone.

Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

The case: Boeheim has taken a roster missing its top three scorers from last season and led it to a No. 1 ranking without the benefit of an elite recruiting class. The Orange consist of basically role players from last season (Andy Rautins, Kris Joseph, Rick Jackson, Arinze Onuaku), a transfer (Wesley Johnson), a guy coming off a redshirt year (Scoop Jardine) and a mostly unheralded freshman (Brandon Triche). And yet a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament is all but secured.

John Calipari, Kentucky

The case: Calipari left Memphis for Kentucky and inherited a roster coming off an NIT appearance, and then he lost the best player on that roster (Jodie Meeks) to the NBA Draft. For 99 percent of coaches, this would've taken time to rebuild. But Calipari assembled the nation's best recruiting class in a matter of months, enrolled it, sprinted to a 27-2 record, raised a million bucks for Haiti, chatted with President Obama and lured everybody from Drake to LeBron James to Rupp Arena. Simply put, Calipari has taken a program with little direction and turned it into a monster, and he did it more quickly and convincingly than most could imagine.

Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh

The case: It would be difficult for almost any program to lose three players the quality of Sam Young, DeJuan Blair and Levance Fields in the same year, but it seemed impossible that the Panthers could do it and keep on doing it like Dixon had done it through his first six seasons. But here they are, 22-7 overall, 11-5 in the Big East and tied for third (in the loss column) in the league standings. When Dixon makes the NCAA tournament, he'll be doing it for the seventh straight season. He has still never won fewer than 20 games.

Scott Drew, Baylor

The case: The Baylor Bears were picked 10th in the preseason Big 12 poll somewhat because they lost three of their top six players from an average team, but mostly because they're the Baylor Bears. Remember, this is a program that wasn't allowed to play nonleague games just four seasons ago in the wake of a scandal centered around a player who was murdered before Drew took the job. But Baylor is now 22-6 overall, tied for third in the Big 12 standings and a quality pick if you're searching for a dark-horse candidate to advance deep into the NCAA tournament.

Frank Martin, Kansas State

The case: KSU was essentially 39th in the preseason AP poll -- well behind such schools as North Carolina (No. 6), California (No. 13), Washington (No. 14), Oklahoma (No. 17) and Dayton (No. 21). Now the Wildcats are ranked fifth nationally and in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The best part? Michael Beasley has nothing to do with it, meaning the man who was at least somewhat hired to ensure Beasley's enrollment has taken the KSU program to new heights two seasons after Beasley left. The even-better-than-the-best part? Five of the top six scorers should be back next season, meaning Martin's fourth year could be a lot like his third.

Bo Ryan, Wisconsin

The case: The Badgers have spent the past 13 weeks in the Top 25 despite starting the season with zero votes, and they'll hear their name called on Selection Sunday for the ninth straight season. That's a testament to Ryan, who has Wisconsin ranked 15th nationally despite the fact that its second-leading scorer (Jon Leuer) missed nine Big Ten games with an injury.

Bill Self, Kansas

The case: Anybody who thinks it's easy to continue without incident after the key pieces from a national title team leave for the NBA should talk to Billy Donovan and Roy Williams, both of whom have struggled after championship seasons. It's difficult to overcome the turnover, but Self has done it. He won a championship in 2008 and lost six of his top seven scorers. But he has recruited well enough to again have the Jayhawks in line for a No. 1 seed, and they're the favorites at Sportsbook.com to win a second championship in three years.