28. Brad Brownell (Clemson)
7 NCAA Tournaments (6-7)
Even with more than two decades of head coaching experience under his belt, Brownell is doing his best work these last few seasons. The Indiana native began at UNC Wilmington after several years on staff and led both that program and Wright State to the NCAA Tournament. Clemson brought him aboard in 2010 and have very recently repeated the benefits. The Tigers had a Sweet Sixteen run a couple years before the pandemic but are now fresh off a trip to the Elite Eight and Brownell’s team is just as talented this season.
27. Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s)
10 NCAA Tournaments (6-10)
Prosperous years have come at Saint Mary’s thanks to Bennett’s leadership and he shows no signs of slowing down. The longtime former assistant joined the Gaels in 2001 and isn’t settling for being second fiddle to Gonzaga. He took Saint Mary’s to the Sweet Sixteen in 2010 but has nowhere near the postseason success of those Bulldogs. Even after falling to Gonzaga in this year’s WCC Tournament, Bennett just won a third straight regular season title in the WCC and has another very strong squad.
26. Buzz Williams (Texas A&M)
10 NCAA Tournaments (11-10)
Among the many stops in his coaching career, Williams has really made an impact since becoming a head coach. After brief work at New Orleans, he had successful power conference stints, leading Marquette to an Elite Eight before taking Virginia Tech to their first ever trip to the Sweet Sixteen. Texas A&M brought him back to his home state in 2019 and he nearly nabbed an NIT title before taking the Aggies to the last three NCAA Tournaments, though that breakthrough success in the Big Dance is still lacking in College Station.
25. Hubert Davis (North Carolina)
2 NCAA Tournaments (7-2)
It’s been a wild ride in recent years at North Carolina under Davis’s leadership. The former Tar Heel and longtime NBA shooting guard got into coaching on Roy Williams’ staff back in 2012 and succeeded him as head coach nine years later. Davis led North Carolina to the national title game in his first season, missed the field completely in year two, then took the Tar Heels to last year’s Sweet Sixteen. His North Carolina squad barely made the cut this season but is hoping to add a few more Tournament wins to prove that they belong in this field of 68.