Nearly 50 years on the sideline, a national championship, 5 Final Fours, and a Sweet 16 just 18 months ago, isn’t enough to impress CBS Sports. In a ranking of the top 25 coaches in college basketball, Jim Boeheim came in at #22. Yikes.
Boeheim was slotted below second-year coaches Hubert Davis (19) and Tommy Lloyd (18). Whew. His friend/nemesis Rick Pitino might be plying his trade in nowheresville, but still got the 11th spot. Tom Izzo is the closest thing Boeheim has to a contemporary after Coach K and Roy Williams retired, and the Spartans’ legend came in at #7.
Of the 21 coaches ahead of Boeheim, 15 of them have never won a national championship. It might be worth looking at PowerPlay if you care to wager on who might cut down the nets this year. Some of theses coaches haven’t even been to a Final Four. So is this disrespect toward Boeheim or a harsh reality?
It’s probably fair if you’re just asking, “Which coach would do better with the same roster?” Boeheim has snuggled into a comfortable zone of mediocre regular seasons and then a win or two in the NCAA Tournament saving face on the year. The rest of these guys aren’t content doing that. They’re challenging for conference titles and 1 or 2-seeds in March. Boeheim hasn’t done that in a long time.
If we’re talking resumes, no current coach has a better one than Boeheim. But in terms of ability to win games right now? Yeah, this ranking is probably right.
