32. Mark Byington (Vanderbilt)
2 NCAA Tournaments (1-2)
The early work for Byington at the College of Charleston helped shape his future, including a brief stint as interim head coach in 2012. His full-time journey began at Georgia Southern a year later and after seven years he earned a bigger chance at James Madison. Byington turned things around for the Dukes, winning a first-round Tourney game in 2024 before taking over at Vanderbilt a few weeks afterwards. His Commodores have been a legitimate contender in the SEC and are dancing for the second straight season and have their eyes on the prize ahead.
31. Fred Hoiberg (Nebraska)
5 NCAA Tournaments (4-5)
Once most known for his work in the NBA, Hoiberg is certainly reshaping his legacy with his recent work in the college game. The former Iowa State star spent a decade in the NBA and spent time as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, but before that he won a ton of games as head coach of those Cyclones, including a Sweet Sixteen in 2014. After his time with the Bulls, Hoiberg got the Nebraska job in 2019 and has engineered quite the turnaround in Lincoln, winning the Crown last season before taking the Cornhuskers to their best regular season in program history.
30. Fran McCaffery (Penn)
12 NCAA Tournaments (6-12)
This year must have felt special and bittersweet to McCaffery, who played at Penn more than forty years ago. What’s followed has been an eventful head coaching career where he’s taken Lehigh, UNC Greensboro, and Siena to the Big Dance, winning a pair of NCAA Tournament games with those Saints. McCaffery just spent 15 years leading Iowa to plenty of postseason appearances and notable Big Ten wins before taking over at his alma mater. In year one back in Penn, his team is dancing and he’s now led 5 different programs to the NCAA Tournament.
29. Ben McCollum (Iowa)
1 NCAA Tournament (1-1)
It’s been a meteoric rise in recent years for McCollum, who rose to national attention for his work at Northwest Missouri State. A former player and graduate assistant there, he led those Bearcats to four D2 national championships in quick succession. McCollum finally jumped to the D1 level at Drake and was everything we expected, leading the Bulldogs to 31 wins and a Tourney upset last season. This was his first year at Iowa and he’s checking the early boxes, winning 21 games and getting the Hawkeyes back to this stage again.