No, But Really: Shaka Smart Should Be Coaching For His Job
· Yahoo Sports
Back in March, one day after Marquette’s season came to an end in the Big East tournament’s first round, I published an article on this website titled “You Won’t See Shaka Smart’s Name On Next Year’s Hot Seat Lists…… But You Should.” This was the keystone section of that piece:
Visit h-doctor.club for more information.
This wasn’t a “ah, shoot, we missed the NCAA tournament by one win” season. This was a “this season is probably screwed by December 1st” season. If we were sitting here after the loss to Xavier and saying “let’s cross our fingers for Sunday!” then things could continue the way that Smart has been going about his business to this point. We’re not. The way I think about it is this: If a “ah, shoot, just missed” season is worthy of a pass, then this season was bad enough to count as two of those “oh, so close!” seasons wrapped up together.
To mix our sports metaphors: That’s two strikes for Smart. Third strike and you’re out.
Given the speed at which I published that after the season ended — less than 12 hours after the recap of the Xavier game! — you can tell that I had that one in the chamber for a minute before things actually ended. Hence, you can tell that I had that idea set in my head for a good long time before it was announced in early May that the NCAA tournament was expanding from 68 teams to 76 teams, starting with the 2027 version of the event. We talked about that expansion in late April, as the reporting around it was that it was going to be official any day now.
One thing I didn’t do on this website over the summer? Something that we should absolutely do before our first Player Preview goes up on the site on Sunday?
Push those two ideas together.
I said in March that if Shaka Smart’s Spring 2026 adjustments to his roster do not lead to an NCAA tournament bid for the Golden Eagles in Spring 2027, that should wind his tenure as Marquette head coach to an end. I came to that conclusion with the idea that the tournament would have 68 teams participating. Six weeks later, the NCAA officially approved adding eight more teams to the tournament. Eight more spots of runway for Smart to guide his revamped squad into the national championship and prove that 2025-26 was a fluke in the trajectory of his stewardship of the program.
Using KenPom.com’s rankings, that sends the First Team Out of the field from #36 Auburn to #52 Washington. Using BartTorvik.com’s rankings, that moves the line from #30 Cincinnati to #53 Washington.
That’s just approximating things, obviously, but what they say together makes it pretty clear: You’re probably not making the NCAA tournament in March 2027 if you’re not a top 50 team. If Marquette can’t be a top 50 team, we probably don’t need to see another season with Smart guiding things on the sideline.
To drive the point home: From the home win against Xavier on January 7th onwards, while going 7-10 the rest of the way, Marquette was #53 in the country in the Torvik rankings. From the home win against Providence on January 19th onwards, while going 6-7 the rest of the way, Torvik had Marquette at #43 in the country.
Last year, Shaka Smart adjusted his team on the fly with no ability to change his roster, and coached them into being a top 50 team. That was an impressive coaching job by Smart, and I made that point in late March, too. It’s also an incredible self-scout by Smart to adjust where things were going as the season went along. It seems to me to be very clear that Smart is capable of pushing the buttons that need to be pressed when they need to be pressed.
Now we just need to see Shaka Smart make those decisions before the season starts and not burn off half the campaign hoping things come together. 2026-27 needs to be All Systems Go from Day One, or there really shouldn’t be a Day One for Smart in Milwaukee for 2027-28.
Follow Anonymous Eagle on social media
Facebook:AnonymousEagle
Instagram:AnonymousEagleSBN
Bluesky:AnonymousEagle