After the Detroit Lions' abysmal 0 win and 16 loss season in 2008, the

IMO B ; depend on whether
The prospects will go with depend
option B,,D,E
D is wrong because of if
and E is wrong because on whether is akward
option B is correct

After the Detroit Lions' abysmal 0 win and 16 loss season in 2008, the owner of the team fired the head coach. In the days that followed this decision, one professional sporting analyst said: "the prospects of the Lions becoming a competitive franchise [url]depends on if[/url] the team can procure a talented and disciplined coach."

(A) depends on if
(B) depend on whether
(C) depends on whether
(D) depend on if
(E) depend whether

prospects-----plural results in plural verb-------depend and here usage of whether is correct

(B) depend on whether

OA:B

As the Subject is prospects, the verb will be 'depend'. And idiomatically it will be followed by 'on'. And we should use 'whether' instead of 'if'. If is used in conditional sentences.

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IDIOM: "depend(s) on whether"
SVA: "the prospects" is plural, so we need "depend" (plural).

Ans (B)

The right answer is option B.

After the Detroit Lions' abysmal 0 win and 16 loss season in 2008, the owner of the team fired the head coach. In the days that followed this decision, one professional sporting analyst said: "the prospects of the Lions becoming a competitive franchise depends on if the team can procure a talented and disciplined coach."

The subject of the sentence is the prospects, which is plural, so the verb has to be plural. But option A and C have singular verbs, we, therefore, have a subject-verb agreement error. Eliminate options A and C.
The second issue is a split between depend on if vs depend on whether. The use of if in the context is incorrect. If is used to express the condition that has to be true for an action or an event to occur. From the meaning of this sentence, there is no conditionality, hence the use of if is inappropriate. Options D can, therefore, be eliminated.
Between D and E, option E omits the preposition on, hence incorrect. The right answer is, therefore, option B.

(A) depends on if
(B) depend on whether
(C) depends on whether
(D) depend on if
(E) depend [on] whether

After the Detroit Lions' abysmal 0 win and 16 loss season in 2008, the owner of the team fired the head coach. In the days that followed this decision, one professional sporting analyst said: "the prospects of the Lions becoming a competitive franchise depends on if the team can procure a talented and disciplined coach."

IF is used for a conditional sentence, whereas WHETHER is used when the intent is to depict a choice, an alternative or a possibility.
For those, who are seeking to learn more, nice explanation can be found in the attachment to @EducationAisle's comment here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/when-to-use- ... l#p1882117
The sentence does not present a condition rather a possibility, so we need "whether". For this reason, A is out.

- correct choice
- Subject-Verb agreement error, plural subject "the prospects" requires plural verb
- incorrect because of "if", same as in A
- "depend on" is idiomatic usage, so B wins over E

“Depend on something” is idiom

“the prospects” is plural. —> the verb should be “depend on”, not “depends on” A,C are out.

—> it is not conditional sentence. Well, “ whether” should be used to to show that two alternatives are possible (yes or no)

The answer is B

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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

There are two main problems with this sentence.

(1)The subject (prospects, which is plural) does not agree with the verb (depends, which is singular and should be replaced by the plural verb depend).

(2)The idiom depend on whether is correct not depend on if

A. the verb depends (singular) should be replaced by the verb depend (plural) as a plural subject (prospects) requires a plural verb; the phrase depends on if is not idiomatically correct

B. the subject prospects (plural) agrees with the verb depend (plural); depend on whether is idiomatically correct

C. the verb depends (singular) should be replaced by the verb depend (plural) as a plural subject (prospects) requires a plural verb

D. depend on if is not idiomatically correct

E. the phrase the prospects ... depend whether the team can procure is awkward and the correct idiom depend on whether should be used