Seven or eight years ago Pitt would have been on this list.

And this question occurred to me, too: What are the 10 toughest coaching jobs in college basketball?

Not tough like Texas-Pan American, where you get paid like a school teacher and literally can’t win. Tough like N.C. State — great salary, great league, but still brutal.

It’s all from major conferences. Providence and Seton Hall make the list. As does some other PA school.

5. Penn State: Location, location, location. Penn State is in the middle of a basketball graveyard. On one side of the state is Philadelphia, recruited by national powers. On the other side, Pittsburgh and West Virginia dominate. Abandoned in its own state, where is Penn State to turn for recruits? To Indiana? Or Michigan? Those states have their own powerhouses. When people tell you that Texas and Oklahoma are tough basketball jobs because they’re “football” schools, hold up a hand and say two words: Penn State.

Doyel still has K-State on the list noting that the NCAA prohibition on private jets for bringing in recruits is a real blow.

I don’t think any job in a major conference is truly impossible. Some are more difficult than others, but things can change with major effort, getting and keeping the right coach. Ask West Virginia. Ask Texas A&M. Things can change a lot faster than it sometimes appears.