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NCAA Basketball: 10 Best Mid-Major Coaches in 2018

By Tristan Freeman

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 07: Head coach Randy Bennett (L) of the Saint Mary's Gaels and head coach Mark Few of the Gonzaga Bulldogs greet each other before the championship game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 7, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 74-56. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 07: Head coach Randy Bennett (L) of the Saint Mary's Gaels and head coach Mark Few of the Gonzaga Bulldogs greet each other before the championship game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 7, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 74-56. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 07: Head coach Randy Bennett (L) of the Saint Mary’s Gaels and head coach Mark Few of the Gonzaga Bulldogs greet each other before the championship game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 7, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 74-56. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 07: Head coach Randy Bennett (L) of the Saint Mary’s Gaels and head coach Mark Few of the Gonzaga Bulldogs greet each other before the championship game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 7, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 74-56. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

While the focus on coaches in NCAA Basketball tends to go towards the power conferences, the mid-majors have plenty of star power themselves.

Things are not trending well for NCAA Basketball mid-major head coaches when it comes to the Big Dance. In the last decade, the number of at-large bids has gone from double-digits to now just a few, with it being three this past tournament.

It’s stacked the deck even harder for mid-major head coaches to get their teams in the Big Dance without having to win the automatic bid. An even bigger issue nowadays is the constant transfers these smaller programs have had to go through, with the best players rarely making it all four years without leaving for a better team.

It’s been a struggle for many, but several have somehow found consistent success in navigating the many roadblocks thrown at them. In a time where most coaches have barely three seasons to prove themselves at their new schools, these men have been around for over a decade.

For this list, I’ll take 10 current mid-major head coaches and rank them by how big of an impact they’ve made in the sport. I tried to balance the recent success of some of these candidates compared to the overall resume that some has compiled up over the many years.

Two coaches will be omitted from this list. One is Mark Few of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, and the other is long-time head coach Cliff Ellis currently of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. These two were already featured in my earlier article of the top 25 overall active head coaches in NCAA Basketball. So technically, they would be No.1 and No. 2 respectively in this piece.

Without further ado, here are 10 more great mid-major coaches who don’t get the national respect they deserve.

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