Conference USA Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jun 18, 2020

SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 07: Chris Douglas-Roberts #14, Derrick Rose #23 and Antonio Anderson #5 of the Memphis Tigers walk off the court in the second half against the Kansas Jayhawks during the 2008 NCAA Men's National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 7, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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COLUMBUS, OH – MARCH 19: Head coach Bob Huggins of the Cincinnati Bearcats (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

4. Conference USA Basketball head coach rankings – Bob Huggins

Cincinnati (2000-2005)

Even while focusing our attention solely on Huggins’ final five years with the Bearcats, there’s plenty to notice. Years earlier, he had led Cincinnati to the Final Four in 1992 and was making the Tournament year in and year out with the school. They won a whole host of C-USA titles since joining the league in 1995, though let’s specifically look at those last few seasons.

Huggins won five NCAA Tournament games in his five trips since the turn of the century, though only the 2001 team made the second weekend. His Bearcats finished atop the conference in most of those seasons and won an impressive 31 games in 2002 before being upset in the Tournament. At a time when the conference was its best, Cincinnati’s 58-22 mark showed a program nearing its own best.

While Huggins’ departure from Cincinnati in 2005 wasn’t pretty, he’s bounced back these last few years with Kansas State briefly before West Virginia. He took the Mountaineers to the Final Four and has them regularly competitive in the Big 12. When you look at the whole picture, he was responsible for impressive growth on the national stage for these Bearcats; if only he could have won a few more Tournament games during those final years.