The 2021 NCAA Tournament has a way of turning low- and mid-major coaches into hot commodities. Today in I've Got Five On It, Rivals.com national analyst Rob Cassidy looks at five coaches that could raise their profiles in the profession with successful runs in this year’s event.

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MORE I'VE GOT FIVE ON IT: Let's lose some money | Coolest small-school players in the NCAA tourney | First-round upset picks

2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2022 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2023 Rankings: Top 30

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There's plenty of reason to be excited about Smith. The 48-year-old coach’s record speaks for itself. Smith has a .662 winning percentage in seven years as a Division I head coach and has been to three NCAA Tournaments in three seasons since taking over at Utah State. The Aggies finished under .500 in back-to-back seasons prior to Smith’s arrival, so it’s not as though he’d be intimidated by a rebuild. Smith has probably already done enough to get a high-major job as is, but a run this March might further improve his stock.

BEST REGIONAL FIT: Smith is a coaching descendant of Tim Miles and has spent his career kicking around places like Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska and other cold places with low population density. From that standpoint, something out West could suit him well. Smith has had success recruiting internationally and in the Upper Midwest. You could see him fitting in well at Minnesota or a program like it.

Moser is an interesting case. On one hand, the 52-year-old has been to the NCAA Tournament just twice in a decade at Loyola Chicago, and it took him seven years to punch his first ticket. On the other hand, he was a wrecking ball once he got in the door, advancing to the Final Four. We’ll see what this March holds for Moser, who could snake himself a lot of money with another deep run. Coaching is very much a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately industry, and Moser has won at least 20 games in four straight seasons including 32 in the year of the Ramblers’ Final Four run.

BEST REGIONAL FIT: Somewhere in the middle of the map. Moser’s ties to Chicago are part of what will make him attractive to higher-profile schools, and the closer he can stay to the Windy City the better. Open jobs at Minnesota or Indiana and even Chicago-based DePaul should be alluring. The Ramblers’ head coach has spent 14 seasons as a Division I head coach in the state of Illinois, so few know their way around the state’s recruiting circuit better.

Legans isn’t even 40 and his name is sometimes kicked around when people talk about young coaches with bright futures. He was an assistant at Eastern Washington for years before taking over as the head man in 2017. Legans won 23 games a year ago and would have probably led his team to the tournament if not for the whole global pandemic thing. This year, he has the Eagles dancing and playing a vulnerable-looking Kansas team in round one. An upset victory or two could make Legans a hot name either this offseason or next.

BEST REGIONAL FIT: Legans is a West Coast guy, having played at both Cal and Fresno State. He’s been at Eastern Washington in some capacity since 2009 and certainly knows his way around the state and the larger West Coast. He could spend this March playing his way onto the radars of any number of schools in the Pacific Time Zone.

VCU is a launch-pad job and Rhoades is the guy in the ejector seat. Guys like Jeff Capel, Shaka Smart and Will Wade all left the Rams to take high-major jobs and Rhodes, who is 80-43 in four seasons at VCU, fits right in with that group. The 48-year-old coach has the program in the tournament for the second time. He’s yet to win a tournament game but could grab serious high-major attention if he knocks off Oregon and makes a little run this month.

BEST REGIONAL FIT: Originally from Pennsylvania, Rhodes spent three seasons at Rice before landing at TCU, so it’s hard to pigeonhole him into a region, which may be a good thing. That said, he spent multiple seasons as an assistant at VCU before returning to become the school's head coach so he’s as entrenched and connected in the Virginia and DMV areas as anyone.

Miller is 125-42 over the course of the last five seasons and has UNC Greensboro in the NCAA Tournament for the second time. He took the reins of the program after impressing in an interim role. And while it took him a handful of years to get things rolling, Miller is still only 38 years old and has been a relatively hot name for a couple years already. He’s a guy that feels like he is a big NCAA Tournament win over a school like first-round opponent Florida State from serious big-job chatter.

BEST REGIONAL FIT: Miller has spent his entire coaching career in North Carolina and recruits the state incredibly well. A number of ACC or SEC gigs would be nice fits should those types of schools come knocking in the near future. There’s no shortage of D-I programs in the North Carolina area, obviously, which makes Miller’s future incredibly intriguing.