Honorable Mention:
Steve Alford, Nevada (509-269, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, four Sweet 16s)
Tim Cluess, Iona (198-108, six NCAA Tournament appearances)
Bobby Hurley, Arizona State (115-78, three NCAA Tournament appearances)
Dan Hurley, Connecticut (167-122, two NCAA Tournament appearances)
Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa (266-168, four NCAA Tournament appearances, one Sweet 16)
Nate Oats, Alabama (96-43, three NCAA Tournament appearances)
Dave Rose, BYU (347-133, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, one Sweet 16)
20. Brad Underwood, Illinois (135-66, four NCAA Tournament appearances)
The Illini started out awful this season, but showed signs of turning it around with wins against Maryland, Michigan State and at Ohio State, as well as a blowout of Minnesota. However, his team lost five of six to finish the season, and was blown out by Iowa in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. After an incredible run at Stephen F. Austin in which he led the Lumberjacks to an 89-14 record and an incredible 53-1 conference record, he led the Oklahoma State Cowboys to the tournament in 2017. He has had a rocky start to his Illinois coaching career, going just 26-39 with an 11-27 conference record. The state of Illinois is loaded with high-level prospects, so maybe Underwood can turn the program around since the Illini have not made the tournament since 2013.
19. Larry Krystkowiak, Utah (197-131, four NCAA Tournament appearances, one Sweet 16)
Utah finished third in Pac 12 this year, but failed to make the tournament for the third consecutive season. This season snapped a streak of five consecutive seasons of 20+ wins. It is the third straight 11-7 Pac 12 season for him, but a poor conference and just a 17-14 record doomed his team. He has only made the NCAA Tournament twice in eight seasons at Utah, so time might be ticking and he could be let go if he fails to make it again in 2020. He came over to Utah after being an assistant for the New Jersey Nets. In his previous college head coaching job, at Montana, he took the Grizzlies to the tournament both years, including an upset of No. 5 Nevada in the opening round in 2006.
18. Leonard Hamilton, Florida State (554-426, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, three Sweet 16s, one Elite 8)
Like a fine wine, Hamilton has improved with age. His head coaching career began in 1986 with Oklahoma State, and he lasted four seasons with a 47 percent winning percentage. He went to Miami for 10 years, turning around the program, and making the NCAA Tournament his final three seasons with the Hurricanes. Hamilton went to Florida State after a season with the Washington Wizards, and failed to make the NCAA Tournament in any of his first six seasons. He would make the tournament four straight years after that before missing it again in four consecutive seasons. But in the last three years, he has made it past the first round all three times, and made the Sweet 16 this year after making it to the Elite 8 in 2018. Florida State is in good hands with Hamilton moving forward.
17. Greg Gard, Wisconsin (80-47, three NCAA Tournament appearances, two Sweet 16s)
After taking over for the legendary Bo Ryan, Greg Gard turned around the Badgers season in 2015-16 after a 9-9 start and led Wisconsin to the Sweet 16 after Bronson Koenig’s buzzer beater. Following another Sweet 16 appearance when Wisconsin knocked off No. 1 overall seed Villanova, Gard’s bunch was thrashed with injuries and missed the tournament for the first time this millennium in 2018. They rebounded with a fourth place finish in the Big Ten, but were bounced in the first round by Oregon. This is officially Gard’s team now with Ethan Happ now out of eligibility. It should be interesting to see how the Badgers offense runs next season.
16. Scott Drew, Baylor (338-220, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, two Sweet 16s, two Elite 8s)
It seems like many times in big games, Drew gets outcoached....but then you look up and see he has made it past the first weekend four times in eight tournament appearances. However, he has made the tournament just eight times in 16 seasons. I will say that Baylor was in rough, rough shape after the Patrick Dennehy scandal. He does deserve credit for turning the program around, and making the Bears regulars in the NCAA Tournament after making only one appearance in the Big Dance since 1950. Once his teams do get in the tournament, though, they either go far or get bounced by a lower-seeded team early. Drew has been a really solid coach for the Bears, and maybe at some point, he could get lucky and make a run to the Final Four. They fell in the second round against Gonzaga this season.
15. Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska (115-56, four NCAA Tournament appearances, one Sweet 16)
Following a little more than three years with the Chicago Bulls of the NBA, Hoiberg is back in college where he had success at Iowa State, making the tournament four times in five seasons. However, he only made it past the first weekend once, and included in that was an embarrassing 60-59 loss to No. 14 UAB. He takes over a Nebraska team that has only one NCAA Tournament appearance this millennium and has not won an NCAA Tournament game in its history. Nebraska was a disappointing 19-17 overall and 6-14 in conference play after being predicted to finish second by some publications. Nebraska will be a completely different team, as possibly its top eight scorers will be gone. Isaiah Roby is going to the NBA Draft combine, but he could still come back. Hoiberg will have his work cut out for him.
14. Steve Prohm, Iowa State (187-82, four NCAA Tournament appearances, one Sweet 16)
After averaging more than 25 wins per season in his first six seasons as a coach, he has not made it past the first round in either of the past two, not making it in 2018 and being upset by Ohio State in 2019. His 2017-18 Iowa State team went just 13-18 and 4-14 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones were predicted to finish sixth in the tough Big 12, and that is exactly where they finished in the regular season. After a Sweet 16 run in his first year, his teams have failed to make it to the second weekend in the past three. It will be interesting to see if his seat gets a little warm if Iowa State fails to make the NCAA Tournament or gets bounced early.
13. Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s (414-174, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, one Sweet 16)
Bennett has been an outstanding coach, having led his Gaels to 20+ wins in each of the last 12 seasons. However, he has only gone to the tournament in six of those seasons due to him being in the same conference as Mark Few and Gonzaga. St. Mary’s might not have made the NCAAs this past year if it weren’t for a 60-47 upset of Gonzaga in the WCC Title game. However, for the fifth time in his seven NCAA Tournament appearances, his team was bounced in the opening round. At some point he’ll need to advance further. Despite leading the Gaels to a 30-win season in 2017-18, they missed the tournament and were bounced in the NIT Quarterfinals. Bennett took over a woeful St. Mary’s program and has turned it into a powerful program. I wonder if Bennett will ever take an offer from a major conference job.
12. Mark Turgeon, Maryland (430-251, nine NCAA Tournament appearances, two Sweet 16s)
Turgeon made one of the biggest jumps on this list, as he led the Terrapins to a fifth place finish in the Big Ten and a trip to the second round before losing on a last-second shot against LSU. Bruno Fernando will be tough to replace, as he is going to the NBA Draft, but that team was incredibly young. With a solid recruiting class coming in, the Terps could be one of the favorites in the conference next season. Before being hired at Maryland, Turgeon turned around Wichita State and led the Shockers to four consecutive postseason appearances. He then led the Texas A&M Aggies to NCAA Tournament appearances in all four of his seasons in College Station. He will need to prove more in the NCAA Tournament, though, as he has only led one team past the first weekend since he took the jump to a major conference school (11 years).
11. Archie Miller, Indiana (174-94, four NCAA Tournament appearances, one Elite 8)
At Dayton, he went 139-63, but has been unable to carry over his success to Bloomington so far. Better success was expected with Indiana in year No. 2, but his record in conference was actually worse than in the first year. It was an odd season for the Hoosiers, as they swept Michigan State, beat Wisconsin, destroyed Marquette and beat Louisville. However, they also lost to Northwestern and Rutgers. Because of all the good wins, Indiana was on the tournament bubble until the end, but its fate was sealed when the Hoosiers lost to Ohio State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. As a No. 1 seed, his team made a run in the NIT before losing to Wichita State in the region’s quarterfinals. At a school like Indiana, missing the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight season (third under Miller) would be unacceptable and he would be feeling the heat.
10. Eric Musselman, Arkansas (110-34, three NCAA Tournament appearances, one Elite 8)
Musselman started off a bit late in college basketball, starting as a head coach in 2015 after spending the previous 18 seasons either as a college assistant coach or in the NBA. In his first season, he rebuilt Nevada after a 9-22 season. He led the Wolfpack to a 15-win increase in 2015-16 and a CBI championship. In his next three seasons, he led them to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a berth in the Sweet 16 in 2018, but his Wolfpack were bounced in the first round by No. 10 Florida this past season. Following the defeat, he left Reno to take his talents to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to coach the Razorbacks. Arkansas has made the tournament two of the last three and three of the last five seasons, but has not made an appearance in the second weekend since 1996.
9. Mike White, Florida (190-93, three NCAA Tournament appearances, one Elite 8)
White led the Gators to their third straight NCAA Tournament berth, following a season in which they played in the NIT. Florida finished with a 20-16 record and knocked off No. 7 Nevada in the first round before falling to No. 2 Michigan. In his final three years with Louisiana Tech, he led the Bulldogs to 83 wins and a conference title all three years. However, he could not get his team over the hump and into the Big Dance and had to settle for the NIT all three seasons. In 2017, his Gators led South Carolina at halftime in the Elite 8, but could not hold the lead.
8. Jamie Dixon, TCU (396-164, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, two Sweet 16s, one Elite 8)
After posting a 73 percent winning percentage with the Pitt Panthers, he moved on to his alma mater, TCU. Pitt was getting frustrated since Dixon had not made it past the first weekend since 2009. Prior to Dixon’s arrival in Fort Worth, the Horned Frogs were a doormat. In Trent Johnson’s four years with the program, TCU only had one winning season and was a combined 8-64 in conference play and never finished higher than ninth in the conference. Dixon quickly helped turn the program around, going 24-15 in his first year at the helm and led the Horned Frogs to the NIT championship. He used that as a springboard to 2017-18 in which TCU won 21 games and earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1998. Dixon had them in the NIT once again in 2019. Prior to Dixon, TCU had not made either the NCAA Tournament or NIT since 2005, and not made the Big Dance this millennium. He has them on the right track.
7. Mick Cronin, UCLA (365-171, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, one Sweet 16)
Cronin did nothing but win with Cincinnati. After back-to-back 30+-win seasons, the Bearcats won 28. However, all that regular season has not yielded results in the Big Dance. Under Cronin, the Bearcats averaged nearly 27 wins per season the past six seasons, but could never make it to the second weekend. He turned the Bearcats program around, but ultimately fans expect more than consistently losing in the first weekend. He was hired by UCLA, so expectations will be sky high. The Bruins haven’t made a trip to the round of 64 since Lonzo Ball was the point guard. That is unacceptable for a school like UCLA.
6. Chris Holtmann, Ohio State (159-109, five NCAA Tournament appearances, one Sweet 16)
Holtmann’s record is a little deceiving, as he turned around a Gardner-Webb program that had not had a winning record since 2005-06. In his first two seasons with the Runnin’ Bulldogs, they went 23-41 and did not finish higher than ninth in the Big South. However, in his third season, he led them to a 21-13 record and a berth in the CIT. He was hired to take over for a Butler legend in Brad Stevens and was 70-31 in three seasons and reached the Sweet 16 in 2017. Despite being predicted in the back half of the conference in the first two years with OSU, Holtmann led the Buckeyes to the NCAA Tournament both years, nearly winning the conference championship in 2018. Keita Bates-Diop left for the NBA, but the Buckeyes still made the tournament in 2019, going 20-15, and earning an 11 seed, upsetting Iowa State 62-59 in the first round.
5. Buzz Williams, Texas A&M (253-155, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, three Sweet 16s, one Elite 8)
Williams took Virginia Tech to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1966-67 (!!!). That was before the modern format existed. That was ridiculously impressive. The Hokies were 9-22 before he came, and Williams turned the program around. Before this run, he had two close tournament losses to Wisconsin and Alabama. He averaged more than 23 wins per season with Marquette and made the Sweet 16 twice and an Elite 8. Now, Williams is off to Texas A&M, where the Aggies have never made it past the Sweet 16 in the modern tournament era. They have made the Sweet 16 twice since 2016, but could never make it past there. Williams has a golden chance to be able to turn A&M around and make the Final Four.
4. Mike Brey, Notre Dame (516-273, 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, one Sweet 16, two Elite 8s)
Mike Brey is losing equity on this list. He is still a damn good coach, but he has not made the tournament in either of the past two seasons and was bounced in the first weekend the season before that. Brey has had a solid tenure as the coach for Notre Dame, making the tournament 12 of his 19 years with the Fighting Irish, including back-to-back trips to the Elite 8 in 2015 and 2016. It is a little concerning for him that other than those back-to-back Elite 8 appearances, the Fighting Irish haven’t made it past the first weekend since 2003. The 60-year-old Brey may be running out of time to capture his elusive first trip the Final Four.
3. Matt Painter, Purdue (346-164, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, four Sweet 16s, one Elite 8)
Painter finally broke through and made it to the Elite 8 with an epic Sweet 16 win against Tennessee. Then, they lost in another epic game, against Virginia, so he remains on this list and Tony Bennett broke through to the Final Four. Purdue was not supposed to make noise this year, but Carsen Edwards carried a young team to a Big Ten championship and nearly a trip to Minneapolis for the Final Four. His predecessor Gene Keady was the same way, being bounced in the Sweet 16 three times and the Elite 8 twice. Edwards recently declared for the NBA Draft, so it will be interesting if he can work the same magic next season. It will be interesting to see if Painter (and Purdue) will finally be able to get over the hump, as the Boilermakers haven’t made the Final Four since 1980.
2. Chris Mack, Louisville (235-111, nine NCAA Tournament appearances, three Sweet 16s, one Elite 8)
Mack was the lead man for Xavier for nine seasons before heading to Louisville and leading the Cardinals back to the NCAA Tournament, where it lost to Minnesota. He has will have the facilities and resources to help get the Cardinals back to the Final Four. The 49-year-old Mack led the Musketeers to the second weekend of the Big Dance four times during his nine-year career at his alma mater. But in his best year, in 2018 when his team went 29-6 and earned a No. 1 seed, they couldn’t make it past the opening weekend. Go figure. He won more than 20 games in every season but one and has had at least 24 wins five seasons. Nothing against Xavier, but it is just a matter of time before Mack reaches the Final Four with Louisville, and heading to the Cardinals was great for his career.
1. Sean Miller, Arizona (384-136, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, three Sweet 16s, four Elite 8s)
Miller missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since his first year at Arizona. Quite the drop-off after 25+ wins in seven of the eight previous seasons. With Tony Bennett making this year’s championship, Miller is the clear-cut choice for No. 1. Arizona had a golden opportunity last season, as the Wildcats rolled through the Pac 12 Tournament, winning all three games by double digits. They had perhaps the best player in college basketball in Deandre Ayton, who was the No. 1 overall pick in 2018. The fourth-seeded Wildcats then fell on their face, getting crushed by the Buffalo Bulls by 21. That could have been the team to break the drought for Miller, especially with the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds all losing before the Sweet 16. It does not help that two of the best teams Miller has had ran into Frank Kaminsky in the Elite 8. His teams had won the conference four of the last five seasons prior to this year’s season, and has hit at least 30 wins in three of those years. At some point, though, Miller will break through, you’d think. It is a mystery how he has yet to reach the Final Four. I know I have been saying this for awhile, but it is just a matter of time for him.
