My feeling throughout this coaching search is that while we have been able to determine several candidates, athletic director Chris Hill surely must have some other possibilities he's considering whom we simply haven't identified.

But maybe not.

It's looking more and more as if Michigan State's Jim Boylen or Kent State's Jim Christian (or perhaps Old Dominion's Blaine Taylor) really are the top guys on the list. Both Boylen and Christian have interviewed, sources said, and Taylor might have either done so or prepared to do so. Taylor wasn't in his office today, and isn't expected back until Monday - potentially giving him plenty of opportunity to meet with Hill.

And considering that other dominoes are starting to fall - New Mexico is about to hire Iowa's Steve Alford, for example, and Colorado State appears to be closing in on North Dakota State's Tim Miles - the Utes might be getting close to the time they need to hire a coach or find a pretty sparse landscape of candidates.

My theory?

Hill has a favorite in mind among his top candidates, and will spend the next few days negotiating with him and perhaps working out a contract. Then, once he's finished with his duties at the NCAA Tournament regional in San Antonio, he'll put the finishing touches on the deal and have a new coach to introduce early next week.

Wishful thinking, perhaps. But also entirely plausible.