I guess we found out what the college basketball world thinks of the University of Arizona job.

It thinks that Tim Floyd is the man for the job.

Assuming Floyd gets the job as our own Mark Asher reported yesterday, at best it’s a high risk/high reward hire.  On its worst day it’s a controversial move, making your stomach turn to have a coach job-hop within his own conference.  But most Wildcats fans probably feel this morning the way I feel after 10 minutes on a treadmill.

That’s the best you could do?

I had said all along that the market will decide how good the Wildcat gig is.  The next coach they hire will tell you where the Cats fit in the college basketball universe and how the program is perceived by the industry.

And the universe spit out…..Tim Floyd.

It’s sorta like when you go to a seafood restaurant, sometimes you’ll see that chalkboard at the front that tells you the Lobster is “market price”.  How much is the lobster worth?  Depends on the day, the size of the lobster, the economy in Gloucester, Massachusetts where the big red bug was caught…..all sorts of things.

But the U of A fans scream…..LOOK HOW MANY NBA PLAYERS WE’VE PRODUCED, ALL THE SUCCESS, THE GREAT RECRUITS, WE’RE ONE OF THE BEST PROGRAMS IN AMERICA!!!

Then why would Mark Few rather stay in Spokane?  Why does Jeff Capel prefer coaching at a football school?

And why did the man you allowed the whole world to believe was your main target, Rick Pitino, tell Sports Illustrated that he’s not a candidate for the Arizona job…..and he “never was”?  If I’m a U of A fan that’s flat out embarrassing.

It’s like when you go to a bar; there are only a finite number of really hot women there and only a finite number of guys who have a chance of getting anywhere with them.

The rest of us are picking through the leftovers.  That’s the state of U of A basketball.  Not nearly as hot as it thinks it is.

But as I said, on its best day it’s a high-reward hire.  Floyd can recruit; at least, he recruited at USC.  Can he convince those kids to come to Tucson?  I think he’s got a punchers chance.

But everything you need to know about U of A basketball came in this little snippet from ESPN’s Andy Katz.  He said that if Floyd bolted for Tucson, USC could go after Pitt’s Jamie Dixon.

The notion that Dixon’s name is already coming up for the USC gig but was never mentioned for the U of A job paints a better picture than I ever could.