Pac-12 Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

1. Ben Howland – UCLA (2003-2013)

After five great years at Northern Arizona and four solid years at Pittsburgh, Howland accepted the UCLA job in 2003, replacing outgoing coach Steve Lavin. He had already proven in his brief coaching career that he was capable of winning games, but the UCLA job is another animal. With what John Wooden accomplished many decades earlier, the pressure is intense for each coach who lands with the Bruins.

All things considered, Howland lived up to this in his early tenure. He led UCLA to the Final Four three straight times, a remarkable feat in today’s game, including a national title game loss in 2006. Consistency was a major problem for Howland. Despite bringing in some top-level recruits on a regular basis, his teams struggled to maintain national relevance. His 2013 team actually won the Pac-12 title but he was fired as a result of a Tournament upset loss.

These days, Howland is trying to rebuild success at Mississippi State, but we can’t discount what he accomplished with the Bruins. He’s responsible for more than half the conference’s Final Four appearances since the turn of the century and came very close to securing UCLA’s 12th title. His decade in Westwood was very up and down, but no coach in this league can compare with the accomplishments of those teams between 2006 and 2008.

We have completed our look at the ten best Pac-12 coaches since the turn of the century. In this prestigious power conference, we’ve seen some incredible basketball led by a few of the nation’s most talented coaches. Going forward, we’ll have to see which new names make their impact on this conference.