NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 20 best head coaches from past 5 seasons

Coach Accomplishments the past 5 seasons
Pac-12 Regular Season Champion: 2 (2017 and 2018)
Pac-12 Tournament Champion: 2 (2017 and 2018)
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 1 (2017)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 (2016, 2017, 2018)

Coaching Points Breakdown
0 points for National Championships
0 points for Final Four Appearances
40 points for Regular Season Conference Championships (Pac-12)
30 points for Conference Tournament Championships (Pac-12)
10 points for Sweet Sixteen Appearances
5 points for every season with 30 or more wins
8 points for every season with 20 or more wins
6 points for every NCAA Tournament berth
Total Coaching Points: 99

Sean Miller has had success as the Arizona Wildcats head coach going into his 12th season in Tucson, Arizona. However, the past two seasons have not lived up to the high expectations of the Wildcat program. Over the past five seasons, Miller and his program have had their ups and downs. He has had enough success with his team’s achievement of multiple Pac-12 championships to being ranked the No. 11 college basketball coach over the past five seasons.

The 2015-2016 season was not a great season for Miller and the Wildcats as they finished in 3rd place in the Wooden Legacy tournament and finished third in the Pac-12. However, the season was good overall due to wins at No. 13 Gonzaga, sweeping in-state rival Arizona State, and defeating No. 23 USC and No. 25 California in Pac-12 conference play.

Miller and his team finished the season 25-9 overall and lost their first-round game in the NCAA tournament in an upset loss to Witchita State. The next season for the Wildcats would be better overall.

Miller and his team had their best overall season during these past five years during the 2016-2017 season. The Wildcats and Miller started off their season with an impressive victory over No. 12 Michigan State in Armed Forces Classic. Then after two losses to Butler in the championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational and Gonzaga in Hoophall LA Showcase, Miller and his team won at Missouri and defeated Texas A&M Lone Star Shootout to end non-conference play.

Arizona won their ten first Pac-12 games with five of them being on the road and the most impressive win during that stretch an 11-point win at No. 3 UCLA. Miller and his team would win six over their last seven regular-season Pac-12 games earning them a share of the Pac-12 regular-season title. Arizona went on to win the Pac-12 tournament that year defeating Oregon who they share the regular-season conference championship with.

Miller’s team had high expectations heading into the NCAA tournament as they earned a No. 2 seed. Arizona won their first two games before falling to Xavier in an upset and close game in the Sweet Sixteen. The Wildcats finished the season with 32 wins and only five losses. Arizona also finished conference play with a 16-2 record in a very strong Pac-12 league that season.

The 2017-2018 season was filled with high expectations for Miller and his program. Arizona went into the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament ranked No. 2 in the country. In the tournament, the Wildcats lost all three games and finished in 8th place and were unranked the following week.

Miller and his team rebounded in non-conference play beating No. 7 Texas A&M, Alabama, and UConn as well as winning on the road at New Mexico and UNLV. Since losing on Nov. 24, the Wildcats won nine straight games and didn’t lose again to Jan. 6

In conference play, Miller and his team dominated a much weaker Pac-12 in comparison to the season before and swept their in-state rivals Arizona State as the Sun Devils were ranked in the top 25 in both games.

And unlike last season, Miller and his Wildcats team won the regular-season championship outright. Arizona continued its positive momentum in the conference tournament winning all three of their games to win back to back Pac-12 tournament titles. However, their momentum would end as Arizona was upset in the NCAA Tournament in their opening game against Buffalo. Next season would be a 180 for Miller and his program.

The 2018-2019 season had promise as Miller and his program were coming off of two straight Pac-12 regular-season and tournament championships. However, Arizona had to replace some key players and expectations were not as high as compared to the past two seasons. The Wildcats won their first four games including a win over Iowa State in the Maui Invitational. Then Miller and Arizona would lose four of their next seven games with their only key win being a victory at UConn.

After losing to Baylor on Dec. 15, the Wildcats would rebound and win six straight games including winning their first four Pac-12 conference games. Then after a win over Oregon State, Arizona would lose seven straight games. They would win three straight games after that losing streak had ended but they would end the season on a three-game losing streak to end their season with a 17-15 overall record and a losing record in Pac-12 play to finish in a three-way tie for 8th place in the conference.

The 2019-2020 season was better than the previous season. Arizona entered the season ranked in the top 25 and they won their first nine games that included wins over Illinois and a victory over  Wake Forest in the Wooden Legacy championship game.

However, after winning the Wooden Legacy tournament, the Wildcats would lose five of their next five games. Miller and his team would win eight out of their next ten games in Pac-12 play including victories over No. 20 Colorado and four road wins. Arizona would lose their last four Pac-12 regular-season games.

Miller and his team would win their opening round game against Washington in the Pac-12 tournament before the tournament was canceled due to Covid-19. Arizona finished the season with a 21-11 overall record and a winning record in Pac-12 conference play, unlike the previous season. Miller has had a rollercoaster of a ride over the past seasons and was one spot out of the top ten in these coaches rankings but overall he has had success at Arizona as their head coach.