ESPN Ranks Top 50 NCAA Basketball coaches: Speculate on Beilein
ESPN launched a series today where they will count down the 50 men's hoops coaches based on the following question:
"Who is doing the best job right now?"
Numbers 50-26 are listed today and they will count down the rest over the next 5 weeks. Using the very specific criteria above, I think Beilein will slot in somewhere around the middle of the top 10, given his success at the B1G level, having the most tournament wins of any NCAA program the past 2 years, back to back B1G POY's and so on. He is clearly the best coach in the nation, but figure he will get bumped a bit for not yet winning a national title and ESPN's anti-Michigan bias, so I will guess he is ranked 6th. Your thoughts/guesses?
LINK: http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/top50coaches50-25/top-50-coaches
#1 in our hearts
And #1 in the B1G
If the the B1G is the #1 confernece in the country then he is the #1 coach in the country by default.
and this is AMERICA so #1 in the world
It's speculation, of course, but I would have to think that with the current climate of college hoops and the standing of the Big Ten in college hoops right now, that would pretty much point to a spot in the top ten of this list being very likely for Beilein. I would be a little surprised if he did not fall into their top ten right now actually, especially if performance in the last couple seasons weighs heavily into the evaluation.
That sounds about right to me.
Never underestimate the power of the subs.
The OP
It's OT season...in the past week we have had board discussions on things way less relevant than this so play along. Obviously ESPN rankings are biased and often irrelevant, but if it bothers you so much than just don't click through.
They will almost assuredly rank Izzo higher than Beilein. I imagine the board will be funny that day.
There will be plenty on the board pissed if/when that happens but I won't be one of them, because such a ranking would be such BS that no one would even take it seriously. Since Coach B has gotten his system and players in place, he has skyrocketed ahead. Izzo still has the brand name (which makes me think he might be ranked higher) but come on, let's be real here...
they will give the benefit of the doubt to the guys with 6 final fours and an NC. Not saying they are right, but probably what happens.
ESPN almost always go for the big names and Izzo has had a great career. I think Izzo is #4 and Beilein is #7. That being said, I would not trade Izzo for Beilein. I think Beilein's stock is steadily rising.
While I agree there is no such thing as an "anti-Michigan bias" I do think there is a pro Izzo bias, especially from ESPN.
I don't read much ESPN anymore, but I never really thought they were anti-Michigan, unless a lot has changed recently.
As long as Coach Eye Chart K doesn't top the chart I'm cool. Aside from being good at keeping his players around a few extra years so he can win with juniors and seniors, no one's done less with more than Grecian Formula'd, tiny mouthed Coach K.
I can see why you're -17K
He should be #1. His only blemish in the past four years IMO was the Ohio game in 2012 but other than that he's been money in both the B1G as well as the NCAA tourny.
That being said he'll prolly be 5-7 cause he's not nearly flashy or sexy enough for ESPN's liking. My guess is they'll go with somebody like Greg Marshall at #1 or maybe Kevin Ollie at the top.
Yeah because those two are totally undeserving, right?
who hasn't won at the highest level yet? Very good? Yes. Best? No. that's just as ridiculous as saying Dantonio is the best football coach in the country because he has overachieved at a school that before him hadn't been good for a long time.
Beilein is held back by two thing ime:
- He's only been truly nationally relevant / powerful for 3-4 years now
- He doesn't have a national title
"He is clearly the best coach in the nation"
clearly, how could anyone dispute it
/s
to keep him out of the top 8. Hard to see him being passed by izzo to be top coach in big ten, and hard to see lose out over anyone other than the big timers.
Coach K, Izzo, Calipari, Bill Self, Donovan, and Boeheim will probably be above him. Who knows though, whoever is doing this may recognize Beilein's genius.
I say high: 4, low: 9
I think the top 5 will have Krzyzewski, Calipari, Pitino, Donovan, and Self. I think Bo Ryan will be ranked higher than Beilein. It will be interesting to see where they rank Tom Izzo and Thad Matta, but I think both of them are going to be ranked higher than Beilein. This is not how I believe they should be ranked, but how I think they are going to end up being ranked.
Names we already know will be in the top 25:
Mike Krzyzewski
John Calipari
Rick Pitino
Bill Self
Billy Donovan
Bo Ryan
John Beilein
Tom Izzo
Thad Matta
Jim Boeheim
Roy Williams
Sean Miller
Gregg Marshall
Kevin Ollie
Fred Hoiberg
Steve Fisher
Shaka Smart
Mark Few
Tony Bennett
Jay Wright
I also would not be surprised if Tommy Amaker makes a surprise appearance in the top 25.
I think Roy Williams will be higher than this board is expecting.
Mike Krzyzewski (4,11)
Rick Pitino (2,7) Roy Williams (2, 7) Billy Donovan (2, 4)
Tom Izzo (1,6) John Calipari (1,3 or 5*) Jim Boeheim (1,4) Bill Self (1,2) Kevin Ollie (1,1) Steve Fisher (1, 0 or 2*)
Thad Matta (0,2) John Beilein (0,1) Shaka Smart (0,1) Bo Ryan (0,1) Gregg Marshall (0, 1) Jay Wright (0,1)
Sean Miller (0, 0) Mark Few (0,0) Tony Bennett (0,0) Fred Hoiberg (0,0)
*Vacated"Who is doing the best job right now?"
But I think it should be more correlated than the board seems to think. The ranking is supposed to reflect "all aspects of running a program."
Roy Williams? Hasn't won a NC since 2009..(neither have most on the list). Coach K hasn't won since 2010. But the recruits are still headed their way...I'd bet Duke and Carolina will be a power in, say, three years. Less likely to revert back to the pack than the newbies.
I'm sure if we went through college basketball history, we would find a number of one and two hit wonders.
My prediction would be something like this (what I actually think would be a lot different):
- Donovan
- Pitino
- Calipari
- Boeheim
- Miller
- Self
- Krzyzewski
- Izzo
- Marshall
- Ryan
- Beilein
- Bennett
- Few
- Williams
- Hoiberg
- Matta
- Ollie
- Altman
- Wright
- Amaker
- Fisher
- Brown
- McDermott
- Ford
Did I miss somebody? From the 25-51 list and the list of "big names they left off" it seems like those have to be the guys.
Maybe I'm wrong about Ollie but I'm guessing that despite the "right now" qualifier they'll want more than the one good year. Same for Larry Brown (which is a strange thing to say about a guy that's been coaching so long.)
My prediction is that Ollie will be top 5 - won a title in his first year. Now, I don't think he's a top 5 coach. But if Brennan sticks to his premise, that's how I see it playing out...
That's putting two much emphasis on just three weekends, to me. He may have won a title his first time out but they also lost eight games and finished in a 3-way tie for third in the 7th-best conference.
He might be higher than I said but there's no way he's bumping any of those top five guys down.
Good job. Not withstanding the order, my prediction for who is ahead of Beilein, is to only move Marshall below him putting Beilein at 10. Yeah, I do think they'll put Ryan ahead of him. Better not have Matta ahead, but you never know.
Altman didn't make the list; he's with Crean on the "big names left out". Replace with Shaka Smart at 24 and move everybody up a spot?
to his credit.
Plus, he never stays long, so why should we count the "only one year" at his current position against him?
Again, this is intended to be a list of who is doing the best job as a college basketball coach right now. Brown's title 26 years ago isn't relevant; neither is his work in the NBA. In the period under discussion he's had one decent year, in which they were NIT runner up.
That's one more good year than anyone else ever had at SMU so he makes the list.
No Shaka Smart?
I think Kevin Ollie will be higher than most people expect
Obligatory.
First thought: How bad is Tom Crean? Can't crack the top 50 but Rick "I waste more Talent than any other Coach, ever" Barnes does? Rough for Crean.
My top 10, in some order:
ACC: Coach K, Roy Williams, Pitino, Jim Boeheim
B1G: Beilein, Matta, Izzo
SEC: Billy Donovan, Coach Cal
PAC-12: Miller
Honorable Mention: Bo Ryan, Bill Self (Self would make my top 10 but he's almost in the Rick Barnes zone, except he is way dirtier than Barnes and actually posts some results)
End of season rankings the last five years:
Texas: NR, 8, NR, NR, NR
Kansas: 1, 2, 6, 7, 10
Self's won ten straight regular-season conference championships. You can call that "posting some results" if you like, but it's acceptable at most schools.
If this was football, sure. But it's not. It's basketball. He's one Mario Chalmers three away from (somehow) being worse in the tournament than Roy Williams was at Kansas.
Despite all of the regular season success.
Despite all of the talent he brings in every year.
Despite a total lack of oversight from the NCAA in regard to what KU does to bring in that talent every year.
Hence - borderline top 10 coach. Can get the kids there, but folds to better coaches in the tournament year in / year out.