MATT PAINTER, PURDUE
You could feel the pain in Painter's voice after the Boilermakers were No. 15 seed Saint Peter's latest victim in last year's Sweet 16. His postgame press conference was as dejected as the optimistic Purdue coach has been in a long time. Missing out on a golden opportunity to earn a Final Four bid was a back-breaking burden."You work hard to do things and to work and represent your school and to put yourself in a position to do well," Painter said after the Saint Peter's loss. "It's so hard to get in position to do well. Like these guys won 29 games and then you feel awful. We put ourselves in a position to win a Big Ten championship and we didn't. We put ourselves in a position to win the championship game of the tournament, we didn't. ... I wish I could have coached better."
Purdue is back. The Boilermakers got what they came for in the regular season: A Big Ten Championship. With a No. 1 seed and National Player of the Year Zach Edey in tow, Painter is armed with another shot at that slippery Final Four appearance.
DAN HURLEY, CONNECTICUT
Dan Hurley has UConn in the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row. It’s time to make a run. 2016 was the last time the Huskies won a NCAA Tournament game. Hurley has openly talked about how first-round losses to No. 12 seed New Mexico State last year and Maryland back in 2021 were ‘crushing.’ The Huskies –– who once ranked No. 2 in thee AP Top 25 –– have a roster capable of making serious noise in March. Is this the year Hurley breaks through?BRAD UNDERWOOD, ILLINOIS
A devastating second-round loss to Loyola-Chicago still lingers like an elephant in the room over Brad Underwood and the Illinois program. Porter Moser and the Ramblers butchered what was supposed to be a 2021 Final Four run. Advancing to the Sweet 16 has been a complicated riddle Underwood has somehow not been able to crack despite boatloads of regular-season wins and talent-laden rosters. It's second weekend or bust for Illinois, yet again. As opposed to each of the last two years, Illinois enters the Big Dance freefalling instead of surging. Underwood has preached all year that his team is built for March. It's time to back it up.RODNEY TERRY, TEXAS
The conversation around Terry and Texas is fascinating. After Chris Beard's arrest, a now-dropped felony charge, suspension and eventual firing, Terry took over as the interim coach and has led the Longhorns to boatloads of success. Texas went 12-6 in the loaded Big 12. It won the Big 12 Tournament convincingly. Texas took Kansas to the woodshed not once, but twice. It earned a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance.And yet, the interim tag still remains.
It's as if Texas continues to find reasons not to give Terry the permanent job. Maybe the National Coach of the Year is getting too much credit for hopping into Texas' Ferrari-like roster and keeping it on the tracks. Or maybe he's a really terrific coach who navigated an unprecedented situation gracefully. Or maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle?
Make no mistake, a deep run in the Big Dance could make it crystal clear Texas' next head coach was here all along. If not, he's undoubtedly set himself up to be a big winner in the coaching carousel. Terry will be a head coach next year, but March Madness could decide if it is at Texas or somewhere else.
FRAN MCCAFFERY, IOWA
Fran McCaffery has turned some guys into serious dudes during his tenure.National Player of the Year Luka Garza helped Iowa earn a No. 2 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. And then the Hawkeyes stumbled in the Round of 32.
All-American and 2022 lottery pick Keegan Murray helped Iowa earn a No. 5 seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Iowa entered as the hottest team in the country, and then the Hawkeyes got stunned by No. 12 seed Richmond.
Iowa is back in the Big Dance with a similar resume. It has another All-American in Kris Murray. Can McCaffery finally break through and make a Sweet 16 for the first time in his long, successful Iowa tenure? It’s the missing link on his resume.
RICK BARNES, TENNESSEE
You know the rap sheet with Rick Barnes. The Tennessee (and former Texas) coach has made the Sweet 16 just once since 2009. Despite owning the nation’s second-best defense, almost everybody expects Tennessee to fizzle out early yet again after a heartbreaking season-ending injury to sparkplug Zakai Zeigler. But in a wide-open field, there are no guarantees anymore. Tennessee has all the talent to make as much noise as anybody. The Vols make their opponents feel them. Is this the year Barnes has a trick up his sleeve?JOHN CALIPARI, KENTUCKY
The canceled 2020 NCAA Tournament has raised the stakes for Calipari and Kentucky. That 2020 roster had the bones to make a serious run with Immanuel Quickley, Tyrese Maxey, Nick Richards and Ashton Hagans. Instead, the tournament gets axed because of COVID, and the next three years have been trying. A nine-win 2020-21 season was unacceptable. Losing to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s last year was gut-wrenching. Calipari can alleviate a ton of heat with a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, but a first-round exit would lead to unmitigated chaos. It would signal three straight NCAA Tournaments without a win. The last time Kentucky went three straight years without a NCAA Tournament victory was back in 1988-91.
