Going into last season, Jim Calhoun was dogged by questions about when he was going to get to a Final Four and win a national title with Connecticut. Now that he's won the college hoops' ultimate cut-down-the-nets game, Calhoun is thankful that the "when are you gonna win the big one?" question is gone.

"Now, you guys just ask when I'm going to win the next one," said Calhoun.

	Williams has yet to win a title at Kansas.

But, now that Calhoun has the monkey off his back, who are the nation's best coaches without a title? And what are their odds of changing all that in 1999-2000? Actually, the names most often mentioned are Kansas coach Roy Williams, Temple's wise old owl John Chaney, Cincinnati's Bob Huggins and Utah's Rick Majerus. All four should have teams ranked in the top 10-15 this season.

The best bets out of that group to add a ring to their résumé this year appear to be Chaney or Huggins. After finishing a game short of reaching the Final Four in 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1999, this is Chaney's best chance of winning the whole enchilada. The team's matchup zone is a known killer. But these Owls differ than their predecessors in that they have lots of ways to score, too. Mark Karcher, a 6-5 forward who led the team in scoring last season, will be Chaney's go-to guy. Center Kevin Lyde and 6-10 power forward Lamont Barnes provide two superior post threats, while sniper Lynn Greer, Quincy Wadley and heady point guard Pepe Sanchez -- arguably the A-10's top returning player and the perfect floor general for Chaney's system -- round out the Owls' arsenal.

"We really want to win it for coach," said Sanchez. "He's done so much in coaching and for this university. He's been close so many times. It would mean everything in the world to give him a national title. I think we have the weapons to do it. You just need everything to go right in order to make it happen."

Huggins has the perfect blend of experience and fabulous freshmen. In 6-6 senior Pete Mickeal and 6-8 defensive whiz Kenyon Martin, Huggins has the makings of one of the nation's most feared frontcourts. Sprinkle in highly touted freshmen like DerMarr Johnson (a not-too-distant-future NBA player) and Kenny Satterfield and you can see why folks in Cincy are thinking national championship.

"We are doing some nice things here at DePaul," said Blue Demons coach Pat Kennedy earlier this summer. "But Bob's team is loaded. They could win the whole thing this year."

Majerus and Williams also have a crack at losing their "Best Coaches Without a Title" labels. For the third straight year, Utah has lost a key player to the NBA lottery as Andre Miller followed in the footsteps of Keith Van Horn and Michael Doleac by getting drafted No. 8 overall by Cleveland. Despite the loss of Miller, the Utes could be better than last year because everybody else returns and the team has several top newcomers.

Tony Harvey is most likely to open the season at the point. The other four starters return, led by senior forwards Hanno Mottola and Alex Jensen, whom Majerus calls his best defensive player ever. Jensen was the team's top rebounder and also scored in double figures on 54 percent shooting. That seems like enough firepower for yet another 20-plus win season and another high seed in the NCAAs.

Williams' club is the class of what should be a power-packed Big 12 Conference this year. Three starters are back for the Jayhawks, including a true low-post operator in 7-foot Eric Chenowith. He's one of the finest pivots in the land, but this team has more weapons than your average Arnold Schwartzenegger summer blockbuster. Kenny Gregory and Jeff Boschee form one of the nation's best young backcourts, while Williams' four new recruits (6-9 Texas transfer Luke Axtell and freshmen Nick Collison, Andrew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich) all have serious game.

Axtell provides some much needed perimeter shooting. Collison is considered the best prep talent out of the state of Iowa since former Jayhawk Raef LaFrentz, while Gooden continues the KU's pipeline into California -- a connection which has netted the likes of Adonis Jordan, Rex Walters, Jacque Vaughn, Scot Pollard and Paul Pierce over the years.

"I'm not going to lie, I have a burning desire to win it," said Williams. "But if I work another 20 years, keep doing what I'm doing, keep getting the same kind of kids that I'm getting and I still haven't won it, I'll still consider myself a success."

Chaney, Huggins and Majerus should share that view too.

Bill Doherty, a freelance writer from Bethlehem, Pa., is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.