10 factors determining if Vols head coach Rick Barnes leaves for UCLA

4. Conference 

Right now, the SEC is light years ahead of the Pac-12 in basketball. The last Pac-12 team to win a national championship was the Arizona Sun Devils in 1997, and before that, it was the UCLA Bruins in 1995.

But those are the only two national champions from the conference since John Wooden’s last national title with UCLA, 44 years ago back in 1975. And since the last one, the SEC has had two different teams, the Kentucky Wildcats and Florida Gators, total up four national championships.

And at this moment, the SEC is loaded with elite coaches. Former UCLA coach Ben Howland is running the Mississippi State Bulldogs. John Calipari obviously isn’t going anywhere. Bruce Pearl has the Auburn Tigers rolling. Will Wade just might survive the LSU Tigers.

Cuonzo Martin will build consistency with the Missouri Tigers, Frank Martin has taken the South Carolina Gamecocks to the Final Four, Kermit Davis has already turned around the Ole Miss Rebels. Heck, even Mike White has the Florida Gators still playing well enough to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Tom Crean with the Georgia Bulldogs, Jerry Stackhouse with the Vanderbilt Commodores, Buzz Williams now with the Texas A&M Aggies, Nate Oats with the Alabama Crimson Tide and Eric Musselman with the Arkansas Razorbacks are all new hires. But Oats, Wiliams and Musselman are proven successes.

This level of elite coaching makes the SEC one of the toughest conferences to navigate in the country. Barnes would have nothing close to that in the Pac-12. In fact, Dana Altman, right now, is the only coach he’d have to worry about.

With the conference so down, easily being the worst Power Five conference in the country, Rick Barnes could easily dominate at the most prestigious program in that conference, which happens to be one of the three most prestigious college basketball programs of all time. The easiness of it all could be a big reason for him to leave. And it’s a huge advantage for UCLA.