NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 20 best head coaches from past 5 seasons
By Ryan Kay
462. . . . Bill Self. 3. player
Coach Accomplishments the past 5 seasons
NCAA Tournament Final Four: 1 (2018)
Big 12 Regular Season Champion: 4 (2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020)
Big 12 Tournament Champion: 2 (2016 and 2018)
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 3 (2016, 2017, 2018)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Coaching Points Breakdown
0 points for National Championships
25 points for Final Four Appearances
80 points for Regular Season Conference Championships (Big 12)
30 points for Conference Tournament Championships (Big 12)
30 points for Sweet Sixteen Appearances
15 points for every season with 30 or more wins
8 points for every season with 20 or more wins
8 points for every NCAA Tournament berth
Total Coaching Points: 196
2015-2016 Season
Non-Conference Record: 12-1
Best Non-Conference Victories: No. 20 Kentucky in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, UCLA in the
Maui Invitational, Oregon State, and at San Diego State.
Non-Conference Tournament Championship: Yes, defeated No. 19 Vanderbilt Maui Invitational championship game.
Record versus their main rival: 3-0 versus Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown. The Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats at home 77–59 and beat Kansas State on the road 72–63. Kansas defeated the Wildcats in the Big 12 tournament by a score of 85–63.
Conference Record: 15-3
Best Conference Victories: No. 23 Baylor, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 10 West Virginia, at No. 3 Oklahoma, at No. 19 Baylor, at No. 23 Texas, No. 22 Baylor, and No. 21 Iowa State.
Regular Season Conference Standing: 1st place finish, earning a No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
Conference Tournament: Defeated No. 2 seed and No. 9 ranked West Virginia in the Big 12 championship game.
NCAA Tournament: As the No. 1 seed, defeated the No. 16 seed, Austin Peay, in the opening round. In the second round, Kansas beat No. 9 seed UConn. In the Sweet Sixteen, the Jayhawks defeated No. 5 seed and No. 18 ranked Maryland. In the Elite Eight, Kansas lost to No. 5 seed and No. 6 ranked Villanova.
Final AP poll ranking: 1
2016-2017 Season
Non-Conference Record: 12-1
Best Non-Conference Victories: No. 1 Duke in the Champions Classic, at UNLV, No. 4 Kentucky
in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, and Stanford.
Non-Conference Tournament Championship: Yes, defeated Georgia in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.
Record versus their main rival: 2-0 versus Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown. The Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats at home 90–88 and beat Kansas State on the road 74–71.
Conference Record: 16-2
Best Conference Victories: No. 2 Baylor, No. 9 West Virginia, at No. 4 Baylor, swept Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
Regular Season Conference Standing: 1st place finish, earning a No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
Conference Tournament: Lost in the 1st round to No. 8 seed TCU.
NCAA Tournament: As the No. 1 seed, defeated the No. 16 seed, UC Davis, in the opening round. In the second round, Kansas beat No. 9 seed Michigan State. In the Sweet Sixteen, the Jayhawks defeated No. 4 seed and No. 15 ranked Purdue. In the Elite Eight, Kansas lost to No. 3 seed and No. 9 ranked Oregon.
Final AP poll ranking: 3
2017-2018 Season
Non-Conference Record: 11-2
Best Non-Conference Victories: No. 7 Kentucky in the Champions Classic, at Nebraska, Stanford, and Texas A&M in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Non-Conference Tournament Championship: Yes, defeated Syracuse in the Hoophall Miami Invitational.
Record versus their main rival: 3-0 versus Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown. The Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats at home 73–72 and beat Kansas State on the road 70–56. Kansas defeated the Wildcats in the Big 12 tournament by a score of 83–67.
Conference Record: 13-5
Best Conference Victories: at No. 16 TCU, at No. 6 West Virginia, No. 20 West Virginia, at No. 6 Texas Tech, and swept Texas and Iowa State.
Regular Season Conference Standing: 1st place finish, earning a No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
Conference Tournament: Defeated No. 3 seed and No. 18 ranked West Virginia in the Big 12 championship game.
NCAA Tournament: As the No. 1 seed, defeated the No. 16 seed Penn in the opening round. In the second round, Kansas beat No. 8 seed, Seton Hall. In the Sweet Sixteen, the Jayhawks defeated No 5 seed and No. 20 ranked Clemson. In the Elite Eight, Kansas beat No. 2 seed and No. 9 ranked Duke. The Jayhawks lost to No. 1 seed and No. 2 ranked Villanova in the Final Four.
Final AP poll ranking: 4
2018-2019 Season
Non-Conference Record: 11-2
Best Non-Conference Victories: No. 10 Michigan State in the Champions Classic, Marquette, Stanford, New Mexico State, and No. 17 Villanova.
Non-Conference Tournament Championship: Yes, defeated No. 5 Tennessee in the NIT
Season Tip-Off Championship.
Record versus their main rival: 1-1 versus Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown. The Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats at home 64–49 and lost to Kansas State on the road 67–74.
Conference Record: 12-6
Best Conference Victories: No. 23 Oklahoma, No. 25 TCU, No. 24 Iowa State, No. 16 Texas Tech, No. 16 Kansas State, and swept Baylor and Oklahoma State.
Regular Season Conference Standing: 3rd place finish, earning a No. 3 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
Conference Tournament: Lost to No. 5 seed Iowa State in the Big 12 championship game.
NCAA Tournament: As the No. 4 seed, defeated the No. 13 seed Northeastern in the opening round. In the second round, Kansas lost to No. 5 seed and No. 14 ranked Auburn.
Final AP poll ranking: 17
2019-2020 Season
Non-Conference Record: 11-2
Best Non-Conference Victories: BYU, No. 20 Colorado, at Stanford, and Tennessee in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Non-Conference Tournament Championship: Yes, defeated Dayton in the Maui Invitational Championship game.
Record versus their main rival: 2-0 versus Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown. The Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats at home 81–59 and beat Kansas State on the road 62–58.
Conference Record: 17-1
Best Conference Victories: No. 16 West Virginia, swept Texas Tech, at No. 14 West Virginia, swept Oklahoma, at No. 1 Baylor, and swept Texas.
Regular Season Conference Standing: 1st place finish and winning the Big 12 regular-season title.
Final AP poll ranking: 1