The latest salvo by the Howlers (hey- Coach K and Izzo lost to Donovan also) sent me to the media guides for the schools where the top coaches reside. I wanted to see how these coaches did against each other. I excluded conference games. The results show how the top coaches do when preparing for a team they don't see on a regular basis. This is critical for success in the NCAA tourney.
Using the prior list of top 20 coaches from Penny2i, here are the results when teams coached by the top coaches play each other. The order is winning percentage.
The coaches who are above 500-
Coach K 20-6 (77%)
Boeheim
Roy Williams
Stevens
Calipari
Self
The coaches who are at 500-
Calhoun
Pitino
Donovan (11-11) (his teams can be beat, just not by xCBH)
Barnes
Wright
The coaches who are below 500-
Matta
Dixon
Huggins
Izzo
Few
Ryan
Buzz Williams
HOWLAND (8-15) (35%)
Frank Martin
So the claim that Howland is just fine, because other top coaches lose to Donovan, is not supported by the facts. Howland is able to get decent results when he is coaching against lesser teams (excepting Cal Poly SLO, Middle Tennessee St, etc). But when he is in a situation where the other coach is in the elite, his team loses 65% of the time.
Enough is enough. Let's get a coach who can compete with the best.