Why Todd Golden, Nate Oats should (and shouldn’t) consider UNC basketball

History matters less than ever before in college sports.

Consider the case of Indiana. Once a basketball power, the Hoosiers rarely make the NCAA Tournament anymore, while Indiana rules college football. That’s an Indiana football program that was forever-a-doormat until two years ago.

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Oh, and get a load of this: Nebraska basketball is in the Sweet 16. Nebraska football gives contract extensions for 7-6 seasons.

Coaching a blue-blood means subjecting yourself to the highest degree of pressure and expectations, with fewer advantages than those programs were once accustomed to enjoying.

Take this college basketball season.

Follow the latest news, updates: Will UNC basketball fire Hubert Davis?

Indiana missed the tournament, for the eighth time in the past 10 years. UCLA lost in Round 2, and Mick Cronin complained he needs more NIL money. NIL money isn’t the issue at Kentucky, but its expensive roster went bust, and the Wildcats got trounced in the second round. North Carolina lost in the first round for the second straight season, and Hubert Davis’ rump sits on a hot seat.

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No. 1 Duke carries the torch for the blue-bloods. A more newly minted blue-blood, UConn, also remains in the tournament. Overall, though, these are not glory days for blue-bloods.

No coach wants to work for a program that resides in the poorhouse and can’t finance a roster, but you could make a compelling argument that a coach is better off at a nouveau riche program than a blue-blood. What do all those banners in the rafters really get you, nowadays?

And, still, coaching a blue-blood offers an intoxicating ego-stroke in an industry full of egomaniacs.

If North Carolina fires Davis — a decision on his fate has yet to be announced — the Tar Heels need only one A-list candidate to say yes to the pressure in exchange for being at a school where basketball reigns supreme.

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On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate the appeal of coaching a blue-blood and…

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Publish date : 2026-03-24 19:20:00

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