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

Coach Accomplishments the past 5 seasons
NCAA Tournament Final Four: 1 (2019)
Big 12 Regular Season Champion: 1 (2019)
Sun Belt Regular Season Champion: 1 (2016)
Sun Belt Tournament Champion: 1 (2016)
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 2 (2018, 2019)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 (2016, 2018, 2019)

Coaching Points Breakdown
0 points for National Championships
25 points for Final Four Appearances
20 points for Regular Season Conference Championships (Big 12)
10 points for Regular Season Conference Championships (Sun Belt)
7 points for Conference Tournament Championships (Sun Belt)
20 points for Sweet Sixteen Appearances
10 points for every season with 30 or more wins
4 points for every season with 20 or more wins
6 points for every NCAA Tournament berth
Total Coaching Points: 102

Prior to becoming the head coach of Texas Tech, he was the head coach of Little Rock for one season during the 2015-2016 college basketball season.  That season, Beard and his Trojans team defeated on the road San Diego State, DePaul, and Tulsa with their only non-conference loss coming to Texas Tech ironically. Beard and his Little Rock would continue their success going into conference play.

In Sun Belt play, Little Rock went 17-3 in conference play and was undefeated on their home court. Beard and his team were regular-season and conference tournament champions which earned them a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament. In the tournament, they upset No. 5 seed Purdue by defeating them in double overtime by a score of 85-83. Beard and Little Rock would fall in the round of 32  to Iowa State. The following season he would take of the Texas Tech basketball program.

Beard’s first season at Texas Tech for the 2016-2017 season seemed to be promising at first. He and his Red Raiders team won eleven of their first 12 games with their only loss being to Auburn in the Cancún Challenge. Then after losing at Iowa State, Beard and Texas Tech defeated No. 7 ranked West Virginia in overtime and a week later beat No. 25 ranked Kansas State. However, overall Beard and his team did not have a good season in conference play.

After defeating two ranked Big 12 teams, Texas Tech would lose to at home to Oklahoma State and ended the month of January 3-5 in conference play. The Red Raiders did beat LSU in the Big 12/SEC Challenge to end the month but February would not be kind to Texas Tech. During the month of February, Texas Tech would go 2-6 but they would end up defeating No. 4 ranked Baylor and of those six losses, three of them were by four or fewer points.

Beard and his Red Raiders teams would not qualify for postseason play after finishing with an 18-14 overall record and a 6-12 conference record and tied for 7th place in Big 12 play.  However, they beat three top 25 ranked teams and were competitive in most of their losses and better things were on the horizon for next season.

The 2017-2018 season would be a rememberable one for Beard and his team as they started off the season strong winning the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament by defeating No. 20 ranked Northwestern by 36 points in the championship game. In the non-conference play that season, the Red Raiders also defeated Boston College, No. 22 ranked Nevada, and South Carolina. However, in Big 12 play is where Texas Tech got college basketball’s national attention.

The Red Raiders opened up Big 12 play defeating No. 18 Baylor and then winning at No. 10 Kansas and followed those wins up with a 16 point win against Kansas State. Beard and his team would lose three of his next four games but their one win during that span was against No. 2 West Virginia. However, Texas Tech would win seven straight games including road wins against South Carolina, TCU, and Kansas State as well as defeating No. 23 Oklahoma.

Texas Tech would finish tied for 2nd in the Big 12 and lose to West Virginia in the Big 12 tournament. The Red Raiders would earn a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament and they did well in postseason play.

Beard and his team would end up defeating Stephen F. Austin in the first round and then defeat number 6 seed and No. 23 ranked Florida in the round of 32 advancing to the Swee Sixteen. Beard then led his team to an impressive win over number 2 seed and No. 11 ranked Purdue by defeating the Boilermakers by 13 to advance to the Elite Eight.

Texas Tech would fall to Villanova in the next round but Beard and his program were gaining momentum and looking to make some real noise next season. He looked to next season as an opportunity to not only win the Big 12 but to possibly win a national championship and shock the college basketball world.

The 2018-2019 season would be a memorable and historical season for Texas Tech. The non-conference schedule was more manageable that season and the Red Raiders took full advantage of it defeating Memphis HoopHall Miami Invitational and beating USC and then Nebraska
in the Hall of Fame Classic final. Texas Tech’s only non-conference loss was to Duke in New York.

The Red Raiders opened up conference play with four straight wins including victories at West Virginia and Texas as well as a win over No. 23 Oklahoma. After a couple of losses, Beard and his team finished regular season play in the Big 12 with nine straight conference victories with one of those wins being against No. 12 Kansas. Even though they would lose to West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament, the Red Raiders were ready to make a run in the NCAA tournament.

Beard and his Texas Tech team shared the regular-season Big 12 title with Kansas State and that earned the Red Raiders a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. Texas Tech defeated North Kentucky in the round of 64 and beat No. 6 seed Buffalo in the second round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Beard and his team would defeat No. 2 Michigan as it was their third straight game in the tournament that they won by 15 or more points. The Red Raiders would advance to their second straight Elite Eight.

Unlike last year’s tournament, Texas Tech won a hard-fought game over No. 1 seed Gonzaga to reach their programs first-ever Final Four. In their Final Four matchup, they once again faced another talented and tough-minded team in Michigan State. In a low scoring game, the Red Raiders defeated the Spartans to advance to the national championship game to face off against Virginia.

In a game that was very close throughout, Beard and his team lost in overtime. Texas Tech came very close to winning a national championship and even though they were not crowned champions that season, they had a lot to be proud of their accomplishments that year.

The 2019-2020 season did not compare to the two previous seasons’ successes and accomplishments. However, there were some highlights such as Texas Tech’s victory over  No. 1 Louisville in the Jimmy V Classic in non-conference play.

The Red Raiders also tied for 3rd place in the Big 12 and had conference wins over ranked No. 12 West Virginia and road victories over Texas, Oklahoma, and Iowa State. The season ended with three straight losses but coach Beard’s accomplishments at Texas Tech can not be overlooked and need to be recognized.