NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 68 head coaches in 2024 NCAA Tournament

4. Mark Few (Gonzaga)

23 NCAA Tournaments (41-23)

Legendary for a quarter century at the helm of his program, Few actually arrived at Gonzaga as a graduate assistant way back in 1989 and became the head coach a decade later. Since then, he’s led the Bulldogs on a transformation from a Cinderella story to a perennial contender. His Bulldogs have made every single NCAA Tournament during his tenure, including trips to the national title game in 2017 and 2021. Wildly enough, this was just the second time in 25 years that Gonzaga failed to win either the regular season or conference tournament title in the WCC, but there’s still here in the Tourney field.

3. John Calipari (Kentucky)

22 NCAA Tournaments (57-21)

Fantastic at every stage of his college coaching career, Calipari continues to make waves and win games in this sport. He took both UMass and Memphis to Final Fours (that were later vacated), in between which he helmed the New Jersey Nets. Calipari arrived at Kentucky in 2009, winning his first national championship three years later. That was part of a five-year stretch where the Wildcats made four trips to the Final Four, though Calipari and company haven’t advanced that far in the Tourney since 2015.

2. Tom Izzo (Michigan State)

25 NCAA Tournaments (55-24)

Entrenched in East Lansing for more than four decades, Izzo has contributed to a host of success at Michigan State. An assistant to Jud Heathcote for more than a decade, he was promoted to head coach in 1995 and had quick success, winning a national championship in 2000. Izzo has led the Spartans to eight Final Fours and a whole host of titles in the Big Ten. While his team underachieved this season, he’s got the Spartans dancing for a 26th consecutive trip and his program is the model of consistency in college basketball.

1. Bill Self (Kansas)

24 NCAA Tournaments (56-22)

A living legend of the sport, Self continues humming along at Kansas. His head coaching career actually began more than three decades ago at Oral Roberts before brief stints at Tulsa and Illinois, taking those two programs on Elite Eight runs.

Kansas brought him aboard in 2003 and the results has been many Big 12 titles, a slew of postseason success, and national championships in both 2008 and 2022. This was Kansas’s first finish lower than third in conference play during Self’s run, but the Jayhawks are dancing yet again and looking for more success.