They say this is a guards’ tournament. You’re not going to win the six most difficult games of the season unless you have guys who control the basketball game.
They say that veterans rule. A team dominated by freshmen has not won the NCAA men’s basketball tournament since Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow and Grayson Allen carried Duke over the finish line in Indianapolis 10 years ago.
The Champions’ Club is tiny. Only six coaches who have won titles are in the 68-team field: Pitino, Bill Self, Danny Hurley, John Calipari, Scott Drew and Tom Izzo.
Make a note of this: Only two of the six (Pitino and Izzo) have teams seeded higher than a seven. St. John’s as well as Michigan State are two-seeds.
Translation: We’re likely to have an addition to the Club.
What better reason to rank all 68 coaches in the field?
68. Steve Krimmel, St. Francis (first appearance): Finally crashed the field in his 13th season — with a 16-17 record and Ken Pomeroy rating of 311.
67. Tony Madlock, Alabama State (first appearance): Career record is 18 games under .500. His team was 13-15 before the Hornets won their last six games, including the SWAC Tournament.
66. Duane Simpkins, American (first appearance): A former McDonald’s all-American who played for Gary Williams at Maryland, Simpkins won 22 games and the Patriot League title in his second season.
65. Donny Lind, Mount St. Mary’s (first appearance): One season, one NCAA bid and 22 victories.
64. Takayo Siddle, UNC-Wilmington (first appearance): Jerry Wainwright, Brad Brownell, Buzz Peterson and Kevin Keatts all used this job to land power conference opportunities. Pat Kelsey’s departure for Louisville helped him win his first Coastal Athletic Association Tournament.
63. Brian Barone, SIU-Edwardsville (first appearance): A former player and assistant for Tom Crean, Barone won the Ohio Valley Conference and will take the former Division II power to its first D1 Tournament with a 22-win season that included victories over Indiana State and Ball State.
62. Dwight Perry, Wofford (first appearance): Perry is the second coach of the Terriers since Mike Young left for Virginia Tech — and he got Wofford a game with Tennessee in his second season.
61, Lennie Acuff, Lipscomb (first appearance): Acuff set a career high with 25 wins while winning his first ASUN Tournament.
60. Chris Crutchfield, Omaha (first appearance): Surprising winner of the Summit League, Crutchfield has taken the Mavericks from nine wins to 15 to 22.
59. Phil Martelli Jr., Bryant (first appearance): The son of the legendary St. Joseph’s coach, Martelli will take the Bulldogs to their second tournament appearance since they transitioned to DI in 2008 — in only his second season.
58. Alan Huss, High Point (first appearance): Considered one of the game’s rising stars, Huss has won 56 games in two seasons after taking over from G.G. Smith. High Point over Purdue is a trendy upset pick.
57. Scott Cross, Troy (0-1, one appearance): The game against Kentucky will be his second NCAA appearance in 18 seasons. The first one didn’t go well — a 24-point loss to Derrick Rose and Memphis in 2008.
56. Travis DeCuire, Montana (0-2), two appearances): Lost to Michigan and John Beilein in 2018 and again in 2019. Beilein retired. But th 25-win Grizzlies get another Big Ten team (Wisconsin) on Thursday.
55. Robert Jones, Norfolk State (1-2, two appearances): Make it three trips in five seasons for the MEAC champion. His team beat Appalachian State before losing to Gonzaga four years ago.
54. Andrew Toole, Robert Morris (1-1, one appearance): Who did Toole beat back in 2015? It was North Florida in a First Four game before the Colonials lost by 29 to Duke, the eventual national champions.
53. Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State (first appearance): Calhoun never made the party in seven seasons at Youngstown State. He gets a crack at UCLA.
52, Kevin Young, BYU (first appearance): He’s been a solid replacement for Mark Pope, but let’s see what he can do in March.
51. Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon (1-7, seven appearances): Drew fared better as a player than he has as a coach, although he’s always looking up at higher seeds.
50. Chris Jans, Mississippi State (1-5, five appearances): He’s lost in the first round for two straight seasons with the Bulldogs.
49. Dennis Gates, Missouri (1-2, two appearances): Beat Utah State before stumbling against Princeton two years ago.
48. Richard Pitino, New Mexico (1-3, three appearances): Of course you remember that one victory came over Louisville in 2019.
47. Penny Hardaway, Memphis (1-2, two appearances): Penny’s controversial first-round loss to FAU two years ago sent Dusty May on his way to the Final Four.
46. Ritchie McKay, Liberty (1-3, three appearances): The Flames won the Conference USA Tournament in only their second season since fleeing the ASUN. He upset Mississippi State and Ben Howland in 2019.
45. John Groce, Akron (4-5, five appearances): Groce’s one shining moment was beating Michigan and South Florida to get to the Sweet Sixteen at Ohio University in 2012.
44. Will Wade, McNeese State (2-4, four appearances): Before he departs for North Carolina State or another power conference job, Wade needs to prove he can get past the round of 32.
43. Kevin Willard, Maryland (2-6, six appearances): Another coach still trying to make his first Sweet Sixteen.
42. Mark Pope, Kentucky (0-2, two appearances): Both of his losses have been a 6-seed losing to an 11.
41. Todd Golden, Florida (0-2, two appearances): Gave up 102 points in a first-round loss to Colorado last season. Beware.
40. Nico Medved, Colorado State (1-2, two appearances): A top candidate at Minnesota, Medved’s lone NCAA win was a punishing 25-point score over Virginia last season.
39. Eric Olen, San Diego (first appearance): For all the talk about Ben McCollum, Olen has the Tritons ranked in the Top 40 in the NCAA NET formula and Ken Pomeroy. Lots of wise guys are picking San Diego to upset Michigan.
38. James Jones, Yale (2-4, four appearances): Talk about patience. The Bulldogs waited 17 seasons until Jones made his first NCAA appearance — and he promptly defeated Baylor. Jones also sent Auburn home in the first round last season.
37. Tommy Lloyd, Arizona (4-3, three appearances): Hasn’t made it to the Elite Eight with a one-seed and a pair of two-seeds.
36. Greg Gard, Wisconsin (6-6, six appearances): Has yet to do anything to make people forget Bo Ryan.
35. Brad Brownell, Clemson (6-7, seven appearances): Other than that Elite Eight appearance last season, not much to see here.
34. Pat Kelsey, Louisville (0-4, four appearances): All of the losses have been to higher seeds by 12, 10, 6 and 13. I won’t mention how the committee seeded his team this year.
33. Grant McCasland, Texas Tech (1-2, two appearances): Shocked Purdue at North Texas but got North Carolina State started on its Final Four run last season.
32. Mark Byington, Vanderbilt (1-1, one appearances): Parlayed James Madison’t first-round upset of Wisconsin last season into an SEC job.
31. Ryan Odom, VCU (1-2, two appearances): Yes, this is the guy who was the first 16-seed (UMBC) to topple a one-seed (Virginia).
30. Rodney Terry, Texas (4-3, three appearances): Some people thought Terry was on the hot seat after making a regional final two years ago.
29. T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State (4-5, five appearances): His reputation has not been built on sizzling success in March.
28. Ben McCollum, Drake (first appearance): Four Division II titles, plus a 30-win championship season in his first run through the Missouri Valley Conference.
27. Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s (6-10, 10 appearances): Terrific coach buried by the attention that goes to Gonzaga.
26. Mike White, Georgia (6-4, four appearances): Who remembers his 2017 Florida team lost an Elite Eight game to South Carolina and Frank Martin?
25. Brad Underwood, Illinois (6-7, seven appearances): He’s suffered some jarring losses with the Illini but did make the Elite Eight last season.
24. Greg McDermott, Creighton (11-12, 12 appearances): Six of his NCAA wins have come in the last three seasons
23. Buzz Williams, Texas A&M (11-10, 10 appearances): Gets his teams to play hard but has only one Elite Eight to show for it.
22. Sean Miller, Xavier (21-12, 12 appearances): Miller burned through a ton of talent at Arizona without crashing the Final Four.
21. Dana Altman, Oregon (18-16, 16 appearances): He’s taken the Ducks to two Elite Eights since 2016.
20. Jon Scheyer, Duke (4-2, two appearances): His Blue Devils lost to North Carolina State in the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament last season.
19. Rick Barnes, Tennessee (30-28, 28 appearances): Some consider him the best coach yet to win a national title. Lots of early losses on that record.
18. Porter Moser, Oklahoma (6-2, two appearances): Took Loyola (Chicago) to the 2018 Final Four and toppled Illinois in 2021.
17. Dusty May, Michigan (4-2, two appearances): A Final Four at Florida Atlantic is nothing to dismiss, especially after May won the Big Ten Tournament in his first season.
16. Shaka Smart, Marquette (10-11, 11 appearances): Half of those wins came at VCU in 2011.
15. Mick Cronin, UCLA (15-14, 14 appearances): Cronin is 9-3 in the tournament with the Bruins.
14. Hubert Davis, North Carolina (7-2, two appearances): He took the Tar Heels to the title game in first season, ending Mike Krzyzewski’s career by beating him the last two times the Tar Heels and Blue Devils played.
13. Brian Dutcher, San Diego State (7-5, five appearances): In addition to the 2023 Final Four run, Dutcher has made five straight trips to the tournament.
12. Bruce Pearl, Auburn (17-13, 13 appearances): Had to mark him down for that puzzling loss to Yale last season.
11. Nate Oats, Alabama (10-7, seven appearances): Rallied from his Sweet Sixteen exit as a one-seed in 2023 to make the Final Four last season.
10. Chris Beard, Ole Miss (11-5, five appearances): Beard is an overtime loss to Virginia away from having a championship ring.
9. Matt Painter, Purdue (22-16, 16 appearances): Makes the tournament every year and gets to the Final Four when he has the national player of the year.
8. Kelvin Sampson, Houston (26-19, 19 appearances): Some people have forgotten how irrelevant Houston basketball had become before Sampson took over.
7. Mark Few, Gonzaga (43-24, 24 appearances): Tremendous success turning an unknown program into a somebody but also lots of falling short.
6. Scott Drew, Baylor (20-11, 12 appearances): Hasn’t made the Sweet Sixteen since winning the 2021 title.
5. John Calipari, Arkansas (57-22, 23 appearances): He’ll try to make the Razorbacks the fourth program he’s taken to the Final Four but he’s won one tournament game since 2019.
4. Tom Izzo, Michigan State (56-25, 26 appearances): Many thought he’d have a second title by now. Maybe this year?
3. Bill Self, Kansas (57-23, 25 appearances): Let’s see what he can do with a 7-seed because this is not a vintatge Kansas team.
2. Dan Hurley, UConn (14-4, six appearances): He’s the best coach in the country. Just ask him.
1. Rick Pitino, St. John’s (54-21, 23 appearances): Showed Hurley and the nation who was the best coach in the nation this season. First coach to take six programs to the tournament while trying to become the first to win a title at three schools.
