College basketball is a fickle sport. Just because you were near the top of the sport in one year, doesn’t guarantee you anything in the future. Just ask Bill Self and his Kansas Jayhawks.
Kansas won the national title in 2022 and dominated the Big 12 for almost two decades. The Jayhawks won the conference regular season title in 17 of the first 19 years that Self was at the helm, including four Final Fours and two national championships.
Since 2023, Kansas has yet to make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, and they have lost 24 games in the last two seasons.
Self was ranked No. 2 when coaches were ranked this time last year, but how far will he fall given the disappointment of the last two seasons?
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Top 10 College Basketball Coaches Right Now
Here are the top 10 coaches in college basketball as of right now.
Honorable Mentions: Grant McCasland (Texas Tech), Mark Pope (Kentucky), Bruce Pearl (Auburn), Scott Drew (Baylor), Mark Few (Gonzaga)
10. Rick Barnes, Tennessee
Tennessee has been the model of consistency since Rick Barnes took over. The Vols have won the SEC regular season title in 2018 and 2024 and the conference tournament in 2022. Barnes has also led Tennessee to four Sweet 16s and two of the program’s three Elite Eight appearances in 2024 and 2025.
Barnes has also thrived in the transfer portal era by not only being able to retain key members of his roster each season but also finding stars from mid-majors in the form of Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier.
9. Matt Painter, Purdue
Coach Paint has been at Purdue for 20 years now, and he has built Purdue into a national powerhouse. He has taken the Boilermakers to the last 10 NCAA tournaments and is virtually a shoo-in to the second weekend every single season.
Painter’s success has come from retention and player development, with Zach Edey and Braden Smith being the primary examples. Purdue is expected to be a top-three team in the country this season with national title expectations.
9. Rick Pitino, St. John’s
Rick Pitino is one of the greatest basketball coaches to ever walk the sidelines. In 2024, he proved that he still belongs in the conversation of the best coaches in 2025.
In just his second season at St. John’s, Pitino led the Red Storm to a Big East regular season and conference title en route to a 2-seed in the NCAA tournament. While they were bounced in the Round of 32 by Arkansas on a historically bad offensive night, Pitino has built St. John’s into an annual contender, and they will be back in the mix in 2025.
7. Todd Golden, Florida
The national champ lands at seven on this list. In the 2024-25 season, Golden announced himself onto the national stage in massive fashion. He earned his first NCAA tournament win in three years at Florida and carried it through the finish line, cutting down the nets.
The only reason Golden isn’t in the top three is that he didn’t have a single tournament win before the season and hasn’t sustained any success yet. He will be higher on this list next year, given that Florida is expected to compete for another Final Four in 2026.
6. Tom Izzo, Michigan State
In 2024-25, Tom Izzo proved he still has his fastball. After four years of mediocrity, not earning a seed higher than a 7-seed since 2019, Michigan State returned to national prominence as the Big 10 regular season champs and a 2-seed in the dance.
Returning to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019. Through the changing times in college basketball, Tom Izzo, at 70 years old, is still getting it done with the best of them.
5. Nate Oats, Alabama
Nate Oats took over at Alabama in 2019, and after a transition year, he has taken Alabama from the bottom half of the SEC to the premier program in the league.
He has taken the Tide to four Sweet 16s in the last five seasons and multiple Elite Eights. Including the program’s first-ever Final Four.
His quick pace and the three-point-heavy offense has changed college basketball. Alabama will continue to be elite as long as Oats is on the sideline.
4. Bill Self, Kansas
It has been a tough couple of seasons for Kansas. They have only made it out of the second weekend once since 2018, and when they did in 2022, they cut down the nets.
So that national title is carrying a lot of weight here.
Self is one of the best in-game coaches in the sport. However, he has failed to properly adapt to the transfer portal era as well as many have. It will be intriguing to see if Self, at nearly 63 years old, can get Kansas back to being the premier program in the Big 12 and the country as a whole.
3. John Scheyer, Duke
John Scheyer has proven to be the best recruiter in college basketball, and it has translated to on-court success. He has made the second weekend in each of his first three seasons at the helm, including a Final Four in 2025.
Cam Boozer, the second-ranked player in the incoming recruiting class, is headed to Duke this season, and he will give Scheyer a great chance to earn his first national championship.
2. Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Since Kelvin Sampson took over at Houston in 2015, Houston has become an absolute juggernaut in multiple conferences, including the last two seasons in the Big 12. Sampson has taken the Cougars to six Sweet 16s, multiple Elite Eights, multiple Final Fours, and a championship game appearance.
Now, he is showing his recruiting chops with the top-ranked class in the country coming in for this upcoming season. They are in the mix to be the preseason number one team and will compete, yet again, for a national championship.
1. Dan Hurley, UConn
While 2024 was a disappointing season for UConn, the coach who led the Huskies to back-to-back national championships still belongs at the top of this list.
You may not like his antics or his demeanor on the sideline, but Hurley just gets it done, and he will have UConn back to the top of the sport again in 2025.
