Potential Opening at Arizona Could Free Hogs for Upset Win in Sweet 16

Right now it should be viewed as a little thing, but in a game that has the potential to be as close as Arkansas (4) vs. Arizona (1) could be in the Sweet 16 of the West Regional in San Jose, little things can often be the tipping point needed for an underdog to come out on top.

Wednesday night, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd became about the 100th person whose name has come up in relation to the recent job opening at North Carolina. The Tar Heels recently parted ways with Hubert Davis after an early departure in the NCAA Tournament of No. 21 North Carolina at the hands of No. 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth.

However, unlike a lot of the other names being bandied around, Lloyd is a rare instance as he was available for questioning about it at his NCAA Tournament press conference.

It's typically a waste of a question to ask a sitting coach in the midst of a legitimate run at a national championship about a job at another school, especially one that would be a lateral move at best, if not a slight step down from where he is.

Yet, instead of answering, yet again this week, how he is going to slow Arkansas' star freshman guard Darius Acuff Thursday night, here was Lloyd addressing the North Carolina job and doing a surprisingly poor job at disguising what is apparent interest.

"I think we have a chance to advance in this tournament game by game, but I'm not delusional," Lloyd said. "I know we could lose tomorrow, but this team deserves my full focus. So, there's not one thing that is going to knock me off my path. I'm 100% focused on Arizona basketball and this program, and I can't wait till the ball gets thrown up tomorrow and then can't wait to try to figure out a way to come out on top."

So, other than confirming he intends to remain coach in Arizona far enough into the future to ensure he sees the tip-off against Arkansas and calls at least a few plays to try to take down the Razorbacks, there is nothing there that says Lloyd will be soaking in the desert sun this summer.

His other statement in the press conference did little other than confirm he intended to be at the game Thursday also. After all, he's already flown to San Jose and put together the game plan, so no need to pull a Lane Kiffin and walk out before the work's done.

There are just no guarantees to his players, nor his administration beyond that.

"I already have one of the best jobs in the country," Lloyd said. "And one thing we talk about in our program all the time — and I think I've gotten better at it, and I think our team's been crushing it this year — is just the ability to have full focus and be present in the moment."

For Arizona freshman Brayden Burries, the message is pretty clear. The words in his coach's mouth and the expression on his face say Lloyd is seriously considering hitting the door.

Lloyd appears to be trying to let administrators at UNC know as best he can that they shouldn't hand out that job without giving him a call as soon as he can get free. In other words, Burries has done what he can in the NCAA Tournament to raise his draft stock, which is solidly in the lottery at the moment, so it's best he start prepping for the combine rather than doing all he can to keep his coach from moving on to his next stop as well.

There's so much more to be done that will be heavily hampered by knocking off John Calipari's Razorbacks. The transfer portal is filling with players right now who will need to be evaluated for what's left of the Tar Heels' roster, which could be empty if Lloyd waits too long, which is exactly how things unfolded last year after Calipari spent a week talking to advisers and going on long walks before leaving Kentucky.

In addition, Lloyd has to decide which of the eight foreign born players currently on his roster he would like to take with him to North Carolina because their transfers tend to take more time and are a tad more difficult to pull off. Making last minute adjustments on how to keep Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile grounded distracts from that kind of important prep to ensure the Tar Heels feature Lloyd's personal signature in roster building.

Lloyd spent 20 years as an assistant to Mark Few at Gonzaga and was the heir apparent in writing. Few encouraged him to find a way to separate himself as an assistant coach and recruiter.

What they settled upon was a brand as the greatest international recruiter in the game. Lloyd's focus overseas was why the Bulldogs were not only able to grow from a Cinderella to a college basketball power, but also served as the secret sauce to their national championship game appearances.

North Carolina would put him much closer to Europe and trying to convince players from Eurasia and Africa to come to the woody areas of North Carolina rather than catching a second plane to go across the United States to to the desert areas of Arizona is much easier to do.

The road to facing Arkansas in the Sweet 16 is much easier at North Carolina than Arizona. Other than Duke, there are no big programs left in the ACC.

The conference has fallen off so far it almost missed the Sweet 16 this year. Had the Blue Devils not bounced back late in the opening round of the tournament, the ACC would have missed the second weekend entirely.

Still, even though he's made it look easy, the road to facing the Hogs for a late night showdown has been much more difficult. Lloyd won the old Pac 12 both as regular season and tournament champion twice before moving to the Big12, often considered basketball's most powerful regular season conference, and claimed by the regular season and tournament titles after two years.

He won the most games ever as a first-year head coach, then the most in two years, and most recently, the most a coach has ever won in a five-year span with 146 wins at this point. Yet, the path to Arkansas is much easier on the other road.

That's why a lot of his time isn't going to be thinking about the Razorbacks. It's going to be spent pondering whether North Carolina is his next home and whether it's in his best interest to get there faster rather than later.

If so, that's great for the Hogs. It's the crack they may need to pull this one off.

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