Utah, as the No. 11 seed, will face 14th seed UCF in Tuesday’s first round of the Big 12 tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The game tips at 7:30 p.m. MST and will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Utes were one week removed from beating Kansas and Kansas State. They were a tick under .500 in Big 12 play, and they had a manageable stretch upcoming — so manageable that it was easy to envision the Utes, who were picked dead last in the Big 12’s preseason media poll, finishing as high as sixth or seventh place.

ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla believes Craig Smith’s firing from Utah had little to do with his coaching ability. Instead, Fraschilla pointed to the growing influence of NIL (Name, Image,

Craig Smith's days as the head coach of the Utah men's basketball team have come to an end, according to multiple reports.

In the middle of February, the Utah Utes men's basketball program won ... Utah decided to part ways with head coach Craig Smith. After the UCF loss, Utah dropped to 15-12 on the year with ...

WATCH: Tommy Lloyd gets emotional when talking about Brady and Landon Smith, sons of former Utah Head Coach Craig Smith. Smith was fired Monday. Landon (Director of Operations) and Brady (Walk-on) were with the team in McKale tonight. pic.twitter.com/SEoiUIiwKH

Ten days after firing Craig Smith, Utah has landed its next men's head basketball coach: Dallas Mavericks assistant Alex Jensen. The 48-year-old alum played for Rick Majerus and was on the legendary 1997-98 Runnin' Utes team that went all the way to the national title game against Kentucky.

The Runnin' Utes would have to pull off a miracle run in the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City to make the NCAA Tournament. No. 14-seeded UCF is up next for Utah in the conference tournament. The Utes lost to the Knights in Orlando less than two weeks ago.

College basketball insider Jeff Goodman gave his take on the decision, deeming it "strange timing" amid the team's 7-9 record in the Big 12 . He then went into further detail regarding his surprise at the decision. "Smith was hired at Utah following 3 straight NCAA tournaments at Utah State," Goodman said .

The University of Utah has parted ways with head basketball coach Craig Smith, the program announced on Monday. Assistant coach Josh Eilert will serve as Utah’s interim head coach moving forward. Change in Leadership of Utah Men’s Basketball Program Announced by Mark Harlan More: https://t.co/Ux06TKkfwB #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/QX23YFgJqr

The University of Utah fired men’s basketball coach Craig Smith a day after a 76-72 loss at Central Florida that dropped the Utes to 15-12 this season.

Craig Smith's days as the head coach of the Utah men's basketball team have come to an end, according to multiple reports.