Coaching goes a long way in college basketball. Mat Mlodzinski ranks the remaining head coaches in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
16. Kevin Young, BYU
- Record this season: 26-9
- Career record: 26-9
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 1 (2-0)
Compared to the rest of the coaches on this list, Young is a baby. But you need to give credit where credit is due. He’s never lost in the NCAA Tournament and is off to an incredible start in his head coaching career.
15. Mark Pope, Kentucky
- Record this season: 24-11
- Career record: 211-119
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 3 (2-2)
Mark Pope has done a solid job at Kentucky – although we know that just getting to the Sweet 16 won’t fly at this program. Still, in year one, there seems to be a sense of optimism that there wasn’t in Lexington toward the end of John Calipari’s tenure.
14. Grant McCasland, Texas Tech
- Record this season: 27-8
- Career record: 205-96
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 3 (3-2)
McCasland has kept the Texas Tech program afloat and has made his first Sweet 16 as a head coach. Like Pope, he’s really just getting started with the Red Raiders, but so far, so good.
13. Kevin Willard, Maryland
- Record this season: 27-8
- Career record: 335-248
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 7 (4-6)
Kevin Willard’s got the only losing record in the NCAA Tournament of anyone here, so while as a Seton Hall grad, I really respect what he did with the Hall, his overall career arc still falls short of most everyone else here. That can change with another win or wins as the tournament moves on.
12. Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
- Record this season: 24-12
- Career record: 112-32
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 4 (6-3)
You have to respect Tommy Lloyd for his start as a head coach at Arizona, and now he’s back in the Sweet 16 with a chance to knock off Duke and go even further. He’s one of the youngest coaches on this list at 50, but has proven himself in a short time.
11. Todd Golden, Florida
- Record this season: 32-4
- Career record: 129-69
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 3 (2-2)
Speaking about coaches who are still very young in their careers, Golden doesn’t even turn 40 until July. But he’s already won over 100 games in his career and won the first two NCAA Tournament games of his career. It’s tough to rate some young coaches, but in Golden’s case, he took over a program and has brought them to newer and better heights, and that’s also tough to discount.
10. Rick Barnes, Tennessee
- Record this season: 29-7
- Career record: 835-422
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 29 (32-28)
Barnes is probably the toughest coach to rank on this list. On one hand, he’s a college basketball coaching legend with over 800 career wins. On the other hand, his NCAA Tournament success has been limited. This is just the 10th time in 29 tries his team has made it to the second weekend. For someone who has been at Tennessee for a decade and Texas for even longer, on top of a few other stops, you would think that number should be much higher. He’s deserving of a long run and hopefully at some point a championship, but the lack of success in March Madness is too notable to overlook.
9. Chris Beard, Ole Miss
- Record this season: 24-11
- Career record: 215-96
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 7 (16-6)
Off the court, Chris Beard has had his issues, but on the court – especially in March Madness – he’s one heck of a coach. That 16-6 record in the NCAA Tournament is what especially stands out. The guy has a track record of making runs in March.
8. Dusty May, Michigan
- Record this season: 27-9
- Career record: 153-78
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 3 (6-2)
We saw what Dusty May was capable of to an extent at FAU but I think we’re seeing it all play out in even more now. He turned around Michigan in just one year, proving the portal isn’t too much for May to navigate and he knows how to bring a group together in no time. Plus, he doesn’t seem to know how not to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.
7. Jon Scheyer, Duke
- Record this season: 33-3
- Career record: 87-21
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 3 (6-2)
I believe this is the year we can start to say that Scheyer is a good coach and it’s not just the benefit of taking over from Coach K and being at Duke. Yes, he has a generational talent, but the 33-3 record proves so much more. There are loads of talented rosters on paper but not all of them have reached this height. Scheyer was a home run hire and keeps getting better.
6. Nate Oats, Alabama
- Record this season: 27-8
- Career record: 240-105
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 8 (12-7)
You can knock Oats for his philosophy which seems to negatively affect defense, but he’s another proven winner in March. Oats has nearly won two thirds of his games in the NCAA Tournament, showing that you can always count on Alabama to be a second weekend team as long as he is there.
5. Bruce Pearl, Auburn
- Record this season: 30-5
- Career record: 475-223
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 14 (19-13)
Bruce Pearl’s NCAA Tournament success is a little less than some of the guys on here, but his overall coaching influence, regular season career, and the fact that he’s at his peak, place him in my top five. This might just be the time it all clicks and he’s a national champion.
4. Matt Painter, Purdue
- Record this season: 30-4
- Career record: 496-219
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 17 (24-16)
You might think this is a high rating for someone who seems to either be upset or be put on upset alert but Painter always has the Boilermakers contending in the Big Ten and has actually made more runs in March than he’s given credit for. In fact this is his third time making it to the second weekend in the last four years.
3. John Calipari, Arkansas
- Record this season: 22-13
- Career record: 877-276
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 24 (59-22)
I don’t know if Coach Cal will ever get past the talk of being a great recruiter and NBA developer but not a tip-top college basketball coach. I think that’s silly and we’re seeing why he’s a great coach right now. Arkansas took down Kansas and St. John’s – two basketball programs with great coaches – to get here. It takes a high level of coaching skill to do that and there’s a reason he’s won nearly 900 games in his career.
2. Kelvin Sampson, Houston
- Record this season: 32-4
- Career record: 721-310
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 21 (28-20)
At this point in his coaching career, Kelvin Sampson is at his best. He’s figured it out with the scheme – Houston is virtually the new Virginia but with a better offense. He recruits well and he wins in March. Everything is setting up for a championship very, very soon.
1. Tom Izzo, Michigan State
- Record this season: 29-6
- Career record: 736-301
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 27 (58-25)
The man’s last name literally means “March” and while I think that gets overplayed, you can’t deny Izzo’s success. He’s a champion, recruiter, and X’s and O’s coach all blended into one. We’ve seen that this year on a Spartans team where the metrics don’t really line up to be a team that is 29-6. But Izzo always finds a way.