Welcome back to the second installment of the critically acclaimed, award winning series, Butch Jones Championship of Life Hot Seat. In this installment we are going to check in on our hot seat coaches, see whether their seats have gotten hotter or colder and  look ahead. So time to move down through the 7 levels of hell… I mean, the 3 tiers of hot seats.

Sticking with last week, our first tier is the “Championship of Life” tier.

We all remember who’s up first in the hottest tier, it’s Butch Jones. Butch is in deep trouble. He was in deep trouble last week and he just keeps digging deeper and deeper. We all knew Tennessee was going to lose to those assholes in Tuscaloosa (and really thought he would be out this week), but there is a separate issue with Butch Jones.

Trailing by a 28 and now against the Alabama backups, Tennessee had a pick 6. Not the man who got the pick 6 but the man who followed him into the end zone did this. (Click the link) We have to start wondering, with the chance to make a bowl slipping away week by week, Butch may begin to lose his locker room. If he does, what possible reason is there to keep Butch around. The Volunteers have a game this week at Kentucky and if Butch loses this one, he very well may not have a job this time next week.

Second on the “Championship of Life” tier is good ol’ boy Mike Riley. The Cornhuskers had a bye last week and Riley wasn’t in the news so he did nothing to heat his seat. But this week Nebraska travels to face the perennial Big Ten bottom feeder Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue is having a better season than many thought, but at the same time they still are not a high-quality opponent. A loss to the Boilermakers could push Riley out the door.

We now move to our second tier, the “score touchdowns” tier.

If we remember last week, first up on this tier is a man who is battling to be on the Championship of Life tier, Bret Bielema. Arkansas got blown out by superior competition last week in a 52-20 loss to Auburn. Lowly Arkansas sits at 2-5 on the year and are 7th in the SEC West rankings. This week, they travel to Ole Miss, who, despite all the issues that came out about the program this summer, sit 1 spot ahead of Bert and the crew in the SEC West rankings. If Arkansas falls to 2-6 with games left against LSU and Mississippi State, it might be smart for Arkansas to rid themselves of Bert now before he brings the program down further.

It’s fitting that our bottom 3 coaches all did significantly better this past week than our top 3 coaches. Let’s start with the “score touchdowns” tier’s second resident, UCLA coach Jim Mora. UCLA beat a depleted Oregon team this week and looked good doing it. UCLA sits at 4-3 but Mora will have to buckle down with a brutal stretch coming up. This week they play Pac 12 powerhouse Washington Huskies, who are looking to prove they are still a legit title contender. Then they travel to Utah, who started off the season strong before dropping 3 straight. That is not mentioning remaining games against Arizona State, who is outperforming expectations, and rival USC. If Mora wants to keep his job next year, he will have to do his best to survive this stretch.

Welcome to the “Leadership Reps” tier.

Our last tier has 2 young coaches who are looking up. First is Missouri coach Barry Odom. Missouri beat Idaho last week to break a 5 game losing streak. That puts them at 2-5 on the year with both wins over non power 5 teams (the other win being Missouri State, shoutout Cody Goggin). They have 1 more week to avoid power 5, this week against UConn, then Odom has to dive back into SEC play and probably begin losing games once again. Odom will need to hope for an upset or 2 if he wants to avoid being moved up a tier or 2 going into next year. Also, important question, does Barry Odom smile?

Last coach on the hot seat is Rutgers coach Chris Ash. Ash is DANGEROUSLY close to being removed from the hot seat. Get this, RUTGERS IS ON A WIN STREAK. Everybody get excited, I know I am. Everyone in the country should be a Rutgers fan every single week that Rutgers isn’t playing their favorite team. It’s impossible not to root for them. They’re 3-4 and tied for 4th place in the Big Ten east. This week, they travel to Michigan, the team that they are tied with for 4th place, meaning winner gets sole possession of 4th place in the Big Ten East. (Very exciting I know) Michigan is coming off a huge loss to Penn State, morale could be destroyed. If Rutgers could get this win, it would be a program shifter, and would probably put Jim Harbaugh on the hot seat. Go Rutgers!

Thanks for tuning into this week’s edition of The Butch Jones Championship of Life Hot Seat. Check back next week to see where all the coaches sit and if there are any additions.