Tubby Smith Fired by Minnesota

The day after UCLA let go of coach Ben Howland, we have our second head coach casualty. This time its Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith, who has reportedly been fired by the university the day after his Gophers lost to Florida in the second round of the tournament. Tubby had a decent amount of success this year as he made the tournament while competing in a very tough Big Ten conference, and even knocking off the number one ranked Hoosiers back in February. They pulled off the upset against UCLA which got Ben Howland fired, but that wasn't enough to save Tubby's job it appears. Tubby will likely land another head job before the start of next season and he is rumored to be a name popping up for several SEC jobs that could become open within the next few months once the tournament is over and the summer begins.

If Minnesota thinks that it can attract a better coach to their school then they are simply delusional. They are a bad team in a bad area at the bottom of the best conference in college basketball. That is not an attractive job for big name coaches, or even up and coming coaches who are any good. Tubby did a fantastic job this yer working with what he had as his recruits matured and pulled off more than one huge upset. UCLA may have been checked out for their first round game, but Minnesota still pulled off an upset over a number five seed which isn't an easy feat. Tubby didn't deserve to lose his job, he was turning that program around in the right direction and doing better than most coaches could do in that situation working with what he had. Just like the last time Tubby was fired, he didn't deserve it and Minnesota will without a doubt regret it next year when they miss the tournament and are getting stomped out in the Big Ten.