We’re quickly heading into another college basketball season and the excitement is through the roof. As we approach the games counting for real, one of our final preseason tasks is finalizing our head coaching rankings once again. It’s a national ranking of all 365 D1 head coaches presented one conference at a time and it’s the SEC’s turn for the spotlight.
You could easily argue that top to bottom the SEC has the greatest collection of coaching talent of any conference in the nation. There’s just one new coach to the league this year, and he’s not exactly new to this league or notoriety and a lot of combined success between the 16 teams helming these programs.
145. Steven Pearl (Auburn) (Last year: 231)
Overall record: 22-16
He may have been thrust into the spotlight following his father’s retirement last year, but Pearl is trying to make the most of this opportunity. He played at Tennessee under father Bruce and his entire coaching career has come here with Auburn. He rose from an assistant strength coach all the way to associate head coach before being granted the top job in September of last year. While a disappointing campaign saw Auburn miss the Big Dance, the Tigers did at least win the NIT championship.
110. Lamont Paris (South Carolina) (Last year: 102)
Overall record: 149-140
Earlier in his coaching career, Paris gained great experience on D1 staffs at Akron and Wisconsin, aiding Bo Ryan during a pair of trips to the Final Four in the mid-2010’s. His own head coaching journey started at Chattanooga, leading the Mocs to the Big Dance in 2022, capping off a solid five-year build. Paris then took over at South Carolina and got the Gamecocks dancing in 2024, though his other three years in the SEC have been significant struggles at just 36-60 combined.
62. Dennis Gates (Missouri) (Last year: 66)
Overall record: 125-99
After playing at California, Gates gained coaching experience on a number of staffs but most notably worked under Leonard Hamilton, spending time as a grad assistant before a later 8-year stint as assistant for the Seminoles. His head coaching start came with Cleveland State in 2019, turning the Vikings into a Tourney team while winning a pair of Horizon League titles. He arrived at Missouri in 2022 and has produced three trips to the NCAA Tournament, alongside a forgettable 2024 campaign.
60. Porter Moser (Oklahoma) (Last year: 59)
Overall record: 388-317
An experienced coach originally from the Chicago suburbs, we know what Moser did with the Ramblers but he’s had an involved career. After several early stops, he had head coaching stints at Little Rock and Illinois State with mixed results before hitting it big with Loyola Chicago. He took the Ramblers to the Final Four in 2018 and Sweet Sixteen in 2021 before jumping to Oklahoma. His work with the Sooners hasn’t been outstanding, getting the team to the Big Dance just once in five years, with two bottom half finishes since joining the SEC.
57. Bucky McMillan (Texas A&M) (Last year: 89)
Overall record: 121-64
Considering he was a high school coach for the majority of his career, it’s been quite the rise for McMillan in recent years. After profound success coaching at that level in the state of Alabama, he took the leap to the college game at Samford, winning 99 games and making an NCAA Tournament during his 5 years there. McMillan was lured to Texas A&M last offseason and already has a Tourney win in his pocket as part of last season’s 22-12 debut.
46. Chris Jans (Mississippi State) (Last year: 37)
Overall record: 219-103
After several successful junior college head coaching stops, Jans has been just as fruitful at the D1 level. A former assistant at Illinois State and Wichita State, he helped build that success for the Shockers before a brief debut leading Bowling Green. Jans then made 3 NCAA Tournament’s in a 5 year span as head coach at New Mexico State, even upsetting UConn in 2022. Weeks later he was off to Mississippi State and got the Bulldogs dancing in each of his first three seasons, though last year’s 13th place finish was disappointing.
36. Mike White (Georgia) (Last year: 44)
Overall record: 321-185
No stranger to life in the SEC, White played point guard at Ole Miss in the late 90’s and spent several years on the Rebels staff. His first head coaching chance was a 4-year stint with a lot of winning at Louisiana Tech before landing at Florida. White took the Gators to an Elite Eight and a few other postseason trips before jumping to Georgia in 2022. He’s produced winning teams in each of his four seasons and just took the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament for a second year in a row.
34. Mark Byington (Vanderbilt) (Last year: 51)
Overall record: 260-155
Definitely among the rising names in the coaching world, Byington is a former college guard at UNC Wilmington who’s really made strides in his coaching career. A former interim head coach at Charleston, his start was at Georgia Southern and involved several 20-win seasons before an even better time at James Madison. Byington took the Dukes to 32 wins, including an NCAA Tournament upset win in 2024 before landing at Vanderbilt. Since then, he’s broken a Tourney drought and has two trips to the Big Dance with the Commodores, including a first-round win this past season.
32. Mark Pope (Kentucky) (Last year: 34)
Overall record: 233-134
As a player, Pope was a captain on Kentucky’s 1996 team that won the national championship. He played several years in the NBA before getting into coaching, with a few early stints in the ACC and SEC. His head coaching start featured several CBI runs at Utah Valley before a nice 5-year run at BYU with a pair of NCAA Tournaments. Pope was called home to Kentucky in 2024 and took the Wildcats to the Sweet Sixteen in his debut before falling in the second round of the Tourney this past March.
30. Will Wade (LSU) (Last year: 25)
Overall record: 266-119
As an assistant coach, Wade helped Tommy Amaker start the Harvard rebuild and was around for VCU’s Final Four run, though a lot has happened in his head coaching career. He won several games at Chattanooga, took VCU twice to the Big Dance, and then had an eventful run at LSU featuring progress, suspensions, and his dismissal. He bounced back in a major way with major winning at McNeese before getting NC State to the Big Dance last season and now somehow returns to LSU for his second stint with the Tigers.
26. Chris Beard (Ole Miss) (Last year: 18)
Overall record: 230-117
Another coach with an eventful history, Beard was a solid junior college and D2 head coach and also spent a decade under Bob Knight and his son on the Texas Tech bench. His own D1 head coaching journey saw 30 wins in one year at Little Rock, taking Texas Tech to the national title game in 2019, and a nice start at Texas before his arrest led to his dismissal. He’s bounced back since Ole Miss brought him aboard in 2023, taking the Rebels to the Sweet Sixteen in year two before a dismal 15-20 performance last year.
17. Sean Miller (Texas) (Last year: 15)
Overall record: 508-211
Boasting all those wins and postseason appearances, it’s been quite a ride for Miller and it’s far from over for the 57-year old. A former Pittsburgh point guard, he learned under Herb Sendek, Thad Matta, and others before his first of two stints as head coach at Xavier. Between his time there and at Arizona, Miller has made four Elite Eights and won a slew of league titles. After great work with the Musketeers again, he took the Texas job last offseason and despite a 10th place finish in the SEC managed to push the Longhorns on the Sweet Sixteen.
12. Todd Golden (Florida) (Last year: 12)
Overall record: 160-77
Somehow still just seven years into his head coaching career, Golden played at Saint Mary’s under Randy Bennett and learned plenty about this sport under Kyle Smith and Bruce Pearl. His first head coaching job began with great work at San Francisco in 2019 before heading to Gainesville three years later. After a slow start, Golden really broke through by bringing the national championship back to Florida and then won an SEC regular season crown this past season.
10. Nate Oats (Alabama) (Last year: 11)
Overall record: 266-116
Absolutely among the top echelon of coaches today, Oats has been a winner at every level, dating back to great school coaching high school ball in Michigan. He jumped into the college game with Bobby Hurley at Buffalo and then won a pair of games leading the Bulls. Alabama hired him in 2019 and hasn’t regretted it for a second, with Oats producing a Final Four run in 2024 and trips to at least the Sweet Sixteen to end each of the last four seasons.
9. Rick Barnes (Tennessee) (Last year: 9)
Overall record: 861-435
A college basketball head coach since 1987, Barnes has had profound success throughout his coaching career. He did solid work at George Mason, Providence, and Clemson before a 17-year run at Texas that included a Final Four run and a great number of wins. He transitioned to Tennessee in 2015 and has overlooked the greatest era of success for the Volunteers. He hasn’t quite gotten them over the hump the Final Four, but Tennessee is coming off a third straight trip to the Elite Eight last year.
3. John Calipari (Arkansas) (Last year: 3)
Overall record: 905-286
Calipari remains among the most notable basketball coaches in the land. A former NBA head coach with the New Jersey Nets, he took both UMass and Memphis to profound success, including (forfeited) Final Four runs at each school. He spent 15 years bringing great talent to Kentucky, winning the national title in 2012 and making 4 Final Four trips. Calipari jumped to Arkansas and has been impressive, taking the Razorbacks to an SEC Tournament title this year and two straight Sweet Sixteen runs.
Add us as a preferred source on Google