NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 68 head coaches in 2021 NCAA Tournament

36. Craig Smith (Utah State)

1 NCAA Tournament (0-1)

What’s not to like about the work Smith has done in his head coaching career? He got it started with four very solid years building South Dakota into a Summit League contender. Smith landed at Utah State in 2018 and is 74-23, winning a pair of MWC Tournament titles before this year’s at-large bid gave him another shot at NCAA Tournament glory. Utah State has become a perennial MWC contender in just three seasons under his lead.

35. Brian Dutcher (San Diego State)

1 NCAA Tournament (0-1)

After last year’s fantastic campaign, it seems fitting that Dutcher would lead the Aztecs to the Mountain West Tournament championship this year. The longtime former aide to Steve Fisher finally got this shot to run the show in 2017 and has solidified San Diego State as one of the MWC’s best programs. In four years, he has four MWC title game appearances and now gets another shot at making history in the Big Dance.

34. Josh Pastner (Georgia Tech)

4 NCAA Tournaments (2-4)

When the season began, Pastner was on the hot seat, but now he coaches the ACC Tournament champions. After inheriting Calipari’s successful Memphis program, he’s now finally broken through in leading the Yellow Jackets to their first NCAA Tournament in over a decade. Pastner has clearly endeared himself to the program and their trust has paid off; Georgia Tech played phenomenally in a year when the ACC was down.

33. Brad Brownell (Clemson)

5 NCAA Tournaments (3-5)

Time sure seems to fly sometimes, as Brownell has already spent eleven years helming Clemson and now leads the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament for the third time. He took UNC Wilmington and Wright State to the Big Dance years ago, though his work at Clemson might be most impressive. In a league with some dynamic programs, he’s had these Tigers near the top of the league these last few seasons and will have them ready to go at another crack at March Madness.