To answer a reader request on new Maryland coach Mark Turgeon … he ranks 20th in victories over the last four years among coaches at major conference programs.
Well, maybe 18th, depending on your methodology. For this chart, both John Calipari (formerly of Memphis) and Sean Miller (formerly of Xavier) are included despite not spending all their time in a power conference. Calipari’s last four Memphis teams had the look of a major-conference program team. Xavier certainly does a rather consistent impersonation of a power-conference team on an annual basis. Both coaches seem like solid exceptions to make.
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Turgeon checks in just behind Ben Howland and Jay Wright, and just ahead of Mike Brey. Of the 19 coaches listed ahead of him, 14 own Final Four appearances and eight have won at least one national title —- including a combined 12 of the last 13 championships.
The six coaches immediately below Turgeon? Like the new Maryland coach, none have Final Fours. However, Mike Anderson, Scott Drew and Frank Martin —- all direct competitors with Turgeon in the Big 12 the last four years —- each have an Elite Eight appearance to their name.
The flaw here? This is raw data, and doesn’t account for strength of schedule. Nonetheless, the names you’d expect to dot the list are pretty much all present,
134: John Calipari, Kentucky
132: Bill Self, Kansas
125: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
119: Roy Williams, North Carolina
111: Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh
109: Thad Matta, Ohio State
107: Matt Painter, Purdue
106: Rick Barnes, Texas
106: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
105: Jim Calhoun, Connecticut
105: Tom Izzo, Michigan State
103: Rick Pitino, Louisville
103: Sean Miller, Arizona
101: Bob Huggins, West Virginia
100: Bo Ryan, Wisconsin
99: Billy Donovan, Florida
99: Bruce Pearl, Tennessee
98: Ben Howland, UCLA
98: Jay Wright, Villanova
97: Mark Turgeon, Texas A&M
96: Mike Brey, Notre Dame
95: Frank Martin, Kansas State
93: Mike Anderson, Missouri
92: Lorenzo Romar, Washington
92: Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt
91: Scott Drew, Baylor
—- Patrick Stevens