When CBS Sports debuted the annual Top 25 And 1 coach rankings prior to the 2022-23 season, UConn coach Dan Hurley was still finding his footing in the sport’s upper echelon. He was four years into his tenure with the Huskies and had yet to win a Big East title or an NCAA Tournament game.
His college coaching trophy cabinet consisted of a 2017 Atlantic 10 Tournament title and a 2018 A-10 regular-season title at Rhode Island but not much else. As a result, he finished on the outside looking in at the coach rankings, which are filled each year with the sport’s most accomplished leaders.
What a difference two seasons can make.
When Hurley broke through, he broke through in a seismic, sport-altering way. As a result, he is now the dean of college basketball coaches. Hurley usurped Bill Self of Kansas, No. 1 in last year’s rankings, for the top spot in the 2024-25 CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 coach rankings.
With consecutive national titles to his credit, Hurley has also surged past the likes of Scott Drew, Mark Few, Kelvin Sampson and Tom Izzo, all legends in their own right.
Hurley’s rapid ascension also illustrates how the coaching ranks have thinned in recent years. When Virginia’s Tony Bennett announced his retirement three weeks prior to the season, he joined other national-title winning coaches such as Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jay Wright and Jim Boeheim who have called it quits in recent years.
The departure of the sport’s old guard has opened the door for a new generation of star coaches. That’s reflected in this year’s Top 25 and 1 coaches with names such as Alabama’s Nate Oats, Duke’s Jon Scheyer and Iowa State’s TJ Otzelberger on the rise.
Here is the collective ranking of the Top 25 and 1 college basketball coaches as the new season gets underway.
Top 25 And 1 college basketball coaches
Rankings determined by voting from CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish, Matt Norlander, Kyle Boone,…
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