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He’s made his list and checked it twice, and now Dan Guerrero is finally ready pick up the pace in his search for the next UCLA men’s basketball coach.

But if the Bruins’ athletic director expects to complete the interview process at the Final Four this weekend in New Orleans, he might find the best candidate of all a little preoccupied.

While other potential coaches are being schmoozed by the Big “G” on Bourbon Street over hurricanes and jambalaya, Marquette’s Tom Crean will be sober on the sidelines Saturday afternoon at the Superdome when his Golden Eagles face off against Kansas for a berth in the national championship game.

That postseason success alone ought to be more than enough to make Guerrero take notice, but according to published reports it hasn’t been.

Pittsburgh’s Ben Howland and Gonzaga’s Mark Few have been championed by the press as Guerrero’s favorites, while Crean has been treated like an afterthought – a backup plan in case there’s a snag in the negotiations with other candidates.

That is nothing less than baffling.

A coach with the credentials Crean possesses ought to be insulted if Guerrero is not lurking outside the Marquette locker room, wad of cash in hand, after his Golden Eagles upset tournament favorite Kansas on Saturday.

This season has been a magical one for the Golden Eagles, who have won 27 games under the guidance of their youthful head coach, and have been a fixture in the top 15 since January. In the past week alone Crean out-dueled Howland’s Panthers in the Midwest regional semifinals before ousting tournament favorite Kentucky last Saturday.

Not too shabby an audition for a dapper dairy farmer from Wisconsin, dontcha know?

Critics will dub him a potential one-hit wonder, another “Biz Markie” or “Chumbawumba,” but Crean’s track record speaks for itself.

In his four seasons at Marquette, the 36-year-old has compiled four winning records including a pair of 25-win seasons over the last two years. He was named Conference U.S.A. Coach of the Year last season as the Eagles won the regular season conference title and finished at No. 12 in the final Associated Press poll.

Prior to that Crean served as an assistant at Michigan State, coaching alongside both Tom Izzo and Kelvin Sampson.

Yes, he is young, and yes, he lacks West Coast ties, but Crean meets every criterion Guerrero put forth after Steve Lavin was axed two weeks ago.

• Intangibles: Nobody plays harder or more unselfishly than the Golden Eagles.

• Integrity: Not even the Disney channel is this squeaky clean.

• Experience: Well, he’s been trained by some of the best, and he’s been to one more Final Four than either Howland or Few – or Lavin, for that matter.

And Crean has one more decided advantage over any of the other candidates – he’s flourished in the shadow of a legend.

The specter of renowned former Golden Eagle coach Al McGuire is to Marquette what John Wooden is to UCLA, and Crean has embraced the program’s history.

“I never looked at it like it’s an image to uphold or a tradition to uphold or a ghost to get rid of,” Crean told The Associated Press. Crean maintained a close relationship with McGuire until he passed away in 2001.

That experience would serve him well if he became head coach at UCLA.

But while Howland and Few wear out the carpet in their respective offices pacing back and forth waiting for the inevitable phone call from Dan Guerrero, Crean does not have the luxury of pondering a move to the West Coast just yet.

If there is mutual interest between Guerrero and Crean – and there certainly should be – neither party will give any indication until after the Final Four.

Nonetheless, while even the most UCLA-centric Bruin fan knows that the NCAA tournament is more than an extended job interview for Crean, it certainly has provided him the national stage he has previously lacked. It’s as if Crean was standing outside the Morgan Center with a bullhorn shouting, “Look at me Dan. Look at me.”

Here’s hoping Guerrero does just that.

Eisenberg left for spring break, and UCLA had no basketball coach. A dozen

margaritas later, UCLA still has no basketball coach. Commiserate at jeisenberg@media.ucla.edu.