Top 20 current coaches who have yet to make the Final Four

We are nearly two months removed from the college basketball season, so it is time to put up an updated list of the top 20 current coaches who have yet to make the Final Four. This past season, UCLA’s Mick Cronin broke through and graduated from this list, as did the coach of the national champion Baylor Bears, Scott Drew. There is also change at the top with Sean Miller being fired at Arizona. Here is my updated list:

Honorable Mention:

Bobby Hurley, Arizona State (146-103, 3 NCAA Tournaments)

Anthony Grant, Dayton (271-151, 3 NCAA Tournaments)

Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska (129-101, 4 NCAA Tournaments, 1 Sweet 16)

20. Kevin Willard, Seton Hall (249-199, 4 NCAA Tournament appearances)--previous: 19

Last year, Willard basically came out of nowhere to make Seton Hall into a national power. The Pirates had three wins in conference play the year before he arrived in Newark. The 25 wins in 2015-16 were the most for the program since P.J. Carlesimo led them to 28 wins in 1992-93. Last season, Willard led Seton Hall to its first conference crown since that 1992-93 season, reaching as high as No. 8 in the polls. The team went down a bit in 2020-21, finishing with a record of 14-13, but the program is on the upswing with him in command.

19. Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa (301-189, 4 NCAA Tournament appearances, 1 Sweet 16)--previous: HM

Jacobsen is similar to Randy Bennett at St. Mary’s in that he has had a lot of success at a mid-major, but would like to stay there despite getting offers at bigger programs. He has had some great years with the Panthers, but then has had a number of mediocre ones as well. Despite all his success, he has only two conference championships and none since 2010. Northern Iowa has missed the tournament the last five years (but in his defense, UNI likely would have made it in 2020) after back-to-back trips to the Big Dance. He would have made another Sweet 16 trip in 2016 year if not for one of the biggest late game collapses in the college basketball history. The Sweet 16 trip made during his tenure was highlighted by a huge upset of Kansas in the second round.

18. Steve Alford, Nevada (544-291, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, 4 Sweet 16s)--previous: HM

Steve Alford has been on the NCAA coaching circuit for awhile. He has had a solid run at three schools before and is 34-21 with the Wolfpack in replacing Eric Musselman. He burst onto the coaching scene in 1999 when he led Southwest Missouri State to a Sweet 16 appearance. He has proven to be a mediocre coach with power conference schools and a great coach with the mid-majors. He has alternated between mid-major and power conference schools for the past 20 years. After being let go at Iowa, he led New Mexico to four conference regular season titles and an impressive 155-52 record. That helped him get a job with UCLA, but was let go early in his sixth season, despite reaching three Sweet 16 appearances with the Bruins.

17. Steve Pikiell, Rutgers (272-233, 2 NCAA Tournament appearances)--previous: HM

What Pikiell has done at Rutgers is incredible. After leading Stony Brook to at least 20 wins in six of his last seven seasons and an NCAA Tournament appearance, he came to a program that hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1991. He had three below .500 seasons with Rutgers to start his career there, but then it all came together. Pikiell would have led the Knights to two consecutive tournament berths if COVID hadn’t halted play in 2020. His Rutgers team won its opening game against Clemson for the first tournament win for the program since 1983 and nearly defeated Final Four-bound Houston in the second round. He has a chance to fly up the list in the coming years if he doesn’t make it to the Final Four.

16. Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s (454-192, 8 NCAA Tournaments, 1 Sweet 16)--previous: 15

I mentioned him in the same breath as UNI’s Ben Jacobsen due to each team having an uphill climb in terms of making the Final Four in their respective teams. That doesn’t take away from his terrific career, though. His 4-6 record in conference play this year is his worst since his first year with the Gaels. 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 because that might he might have reached his ceiling with this program and he wouldn’t be able to take the next step. Despite making the tournament seven times, he has only advanced past the first round twice.

15. Jamie Dixon, TCU (424-194, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, 2 Sweet 16s, 1 Elite 8)--previous: 14

This is “What have you done for me lately?” sport and his teams have not made it to the second weekend since 2009 and made the tournament just once in his last five seasons.. In his first six years, his Pitt Panthers advanced to the second weekend three times. Those days look so long ago. However, he does get credit for turning the Horned Frogs around a bit and bringing them to the Big Dance. 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. Prior to Dixon, TCU had not made either the NCAA Tournament or NIT since 2005, and not made the Big Dance this millennium.

14. Nate Oats, Alabama (138-65, 4 NCAA Tournament appearances, 1 Sweet 16)--previous: HM

A new entrant on this list, Oats very easily could have been ranked higher. After leading Buffalo to 59 wins and two NCAA Tournament appearances his final two seasons there, he left for Alabama, where he guided the Tide to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2004. Oats’ Alabama squad was ranked in the top five and it took a red-hot UCLA team to take down the Tide. Oats will be a contender for a Final Four berth for years to come.

13. Brian Dutcher, San Diego State (96-31, 2 NCAA Tournament appearances)--previous: 18

Dutcher was given the reigns after Steve Fisher’s retirement and has kept the program rolling. He was kind of screwed, like Greg Gard and others, that the COVID pandemic took away the 2020 NCAA Tournament. His team that season went 30-2 and would have been a one or two seed in the Big Dance. His team had another good season this past year, but nothing like the 2019-20 season. Dutcher’s Aztecs won 23 games, but lost in the first round to Syracuse. 

12. Mike Brey, Notre Dame (547-300, 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, 1 Sweet 16, 2 Elite 8s)--previous: 10

He has been dropping on this list, living on past accomplishments. What have you done for me lately? He made it to the Elite 8 in back-to-back years in 2014-15 and 15-16, but has not made the tournament since 2017-18 and has finished below .500 in two of the past three seasons. As good as Mike Brey is, those Elite 8 appearances are the only trips to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2003-04. In that period, the Irish have missed the tournament completely eight times. Brey is running out of time to reach his first Final Four.

11. Mark Turgeon, Maryland (471-272, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, 2 Sweet 16s)--previous: 9

Last season, Turgeon coached the Terps 24 wins and a Big Ten championship last season. It was his first conference title since 2005-06 when he was with Wichita State. He had a chance to make a run last year, but the Coronavirus ended those hopes. While he is a really solid coach, 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.

10. Greg Gard, Wisconsin (119-70, 4 NCAA Tournament appearances, 2 Sweet 16s)--previous: 11

It was a bit of a disappointing year for Gard’s Badgers. They were supposed to be a Final Four contender and ended up with a No. 9 seed and second round exit. In 2019-20, what he and the program had to deal with and turn the season around was remarkable. After a series of unfortunate events, his Badgers won eight consecutive games to earn a share of the Big Ten title. Any one of those could have caused the season to derail, but Gard kept the team together and was rewarded with the Big Ten Coach of the Year. However, with the problems he had with the seniors last year, this season could be a big one, especially with a new Athletics Director in Chris McIntosh.

9. Mike White, Florida (224-115, 4 NCAA Tournament appearances, 1 Elite 8)--previous: 12

White has had a solid time in Gainesville so far, but nothing has come close to the success of his 2016-17 team. In his past four years, his win total has gone each year. If you were to take his fantastic season away, he is just 96-66. While certainly not bad, it is not what it was under Billy Donovan. He came from Louisiana Tech, where he found plenty of success. 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.

8. Brad Underwood, Illinois (180-83, 5 NCAA Tournament appearances)--previous: 16

His first two seasons were underwhelming seasons in Champaigne, but Underwood’s crew turned it around the last two years, led by Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn. The Illini won 21 games and finished 13-7 in conference in 2019-20, good for fourth in the conference. The 13 league wins are more than Illinois had in its previous two seasons combined. This past season,  Illinois was 24-7, which was good enough for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but they choked to Loyola in the second round. 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. It will be interesting to see how the Illini do without Dosunmu and Cockburn. Both players are currently testing the NBA Draft waters.

7. Juwan Howard, Michigan (42-17, 1 NCAA Tournament appearance, 1 Elite 8)--previous: N/A

It is a tough act to follow, proceeding John Belein, but Howard has done his best. It was modest first year for the ‘Fab Five’ member, but won the Big Ten regular season and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Despite missing a starter, he led the Wolverines to the Elite 8, but lost in the matchup of who will exit this list against UCLA and Mick Cronin. I think Howard will eventually leave for the NBA, but he has unfinished business at his alma mater first.

6. Buzz Williams, Texas A&M (277-179, 8 NCAA Tournament appearances, 3 Sweet 16s, 1 Elite 8)--previous: 7

It is only a matter of time that Buzz turns around the Aggies. He did the same at Virginia Tech and elevated the play at Marquette after the departure of Tom Crean. Williams took over the Hokies following a 9-22 season in which they won just two league games. In his fifth season, he took Virginia Tech to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1966-67 and fell by just two points to top-seeded Duke. Before Virginia Tech, he averaged more than 23 wins per season with Marquette and made the Sweet 16 twice and an Elite 8.

5. Eric Musselman, Arkansas (155-53, 4 NCAA Tournament appearances, 1 Sweet 16, 1 Elite 8)--previous: 13

Musselman has it going in Arkansas. The Razorbacks finished in the top 10 of the AP poll and earned trip to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1995. After an 18-16 the year before he got there, Arkansas was primed to take a major leap in year one under Musselman. The team began the season 14-2, but dropped 10 of its last 16 games and a 7-11 SEC record took them off the bubble and firmly out of the NCAA Tournament running. Musselman came to Fayetteville after beginning his collegiate head coaching career at Nevada. In his first season there, he rebuilt the Wolfpack after a 9-22 season. He led Nevada 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. Musselman has proven he is worthy of this job and may exit this list sooner rather than later.

4. Chris Holtmann, Ohio State (201-129, 6 NCAA Tournament appearances, 1 Sweet 16)--previous: 8

Holtmann did a masterful job this past year with the Buckeyes, leading them to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a trip to the Big Ten Tournament title game. Despite his team falling to Oral Roberts in the first round of the Big Dance, it was still a terrific year for OSU. He came to the Buckeyes from Butler, where he was hired to take over for a Butler legend in Brad Stevens. Holtmann was 70-31 in three seasons and reached the Sweet 16 in 2017. His overall 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. 

3. Leonard Hamilton, Florida State (600-438, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, 4 Sweet 16s, 1 Elite 8)--previous: 5

Hamilton is fresh off another terrific season, where they were a No. 4 seed and advanced to the Sweet 16. The Seminoles have made it to the second weekend the last three NCAA Tournaments. At 72, he is the oldest coach on the list and it seems like he is getting better 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. In 2002-03, he went to Tallahassee and turned things around. In 2018, he led them to their first Elite 8 in 25 years. It’s a shame that there was no tournament because he could have made it this year. Eventually, you’d think he’ll make it, don’t you think?

2. Matt Painter, Purdue (380-189, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, 4 Sweet 16s, 1 Elite 8)--previous: 6

After what would have been NIT season in 2020, Purdue is back on the way up. The Boilers were led by freshmen and earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While they lost to North Texas in the first round, they are primed for a run in 2020-21. This reminds me a bit of the team in 2007-08 when they had a freshmen group with JaJuan Johnson, E’Twaun Moore and Robbie Hummel. I have faith in Painter, as the Boilers try to make the Final Four for the first time since 1980, and this coming season could be their year. It will be interesting to see if Painter (and Purdue) will finally be able to get over the hump because the Boilermakers are a bit snakebit in that regard because Gene Keady was the same way.

1. Chris Mack, Louisville (272-125, 9 NCAA Tournament appearances, 3 Sweet 16s, 1 Elite 8)--previous: 2

For the first time since I started creating this list, someone other than Sean Miller is atop the ranking. Chris Mack has been such a good coach for so long that it is surprising that he has never been to a Final Four before. His two best years at Xavier, in 2015-16 and 2017-18, were spoiled before the second weekend by Wisconsin and Florida State, respectively. Mack should have made the tournament this past year, but the committee put in a team with a worse resume (Syracuse) over them. It seems inevitable, but of course, people probably thought that with Gene Keady and John Chaney too.