Men's basketball Coach of the Year rankings: Barnes, Scheyer lead top 15

There are several types of candidates to consider when considering a midseason Coach of the Year ranking.

There are the coaches who have exceeded expectations -- the ones who didn't get much respect in the preseason, ranked low in the preseason conference polls or AP Top 25. There are also the coaches who needed to rebuild rosters after losing talent to the NBA, transfer portal or graduation. Then there are the coaches who have done the most with the least -- they didn't bring a highly touted transfer group or recruiting class, nor do they have a team filled with NBA draft prospects.

And finally, we have the coaches on the best teams. There's still something to be said for getting a talented team to live up to expectations, buy in and win games.

Of course, several coaches fit into multiple buckets -- those are the guys you'll find throughout this ranking. And we'll watch two of them go head-to-head in Saturday's Sonic Blockbuster game between Auburn and Tennessee (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf each submitted their top 20 names, then combined and debated them to craft a consensus top 15 heading into the final two months of the season. Let's dive in.

1. Bruce Pearl, Auburn Tigers

In their first two-plus games without Johni Broome -- the Wooden Award favorite before he suffered an ankle injury that has sidelined him indefinitely -- the Auburn Tigers had an opportunity to collapse. Instead, they played top-35 defense (per barttorvik.com), made 41% of their 3-point attempts and won all three games, including a 22-point victory over Mississippi State.

Pearl has weathered an injury to one of the top players in the country and off-court drama (there was an FAA incident in November ... seriously) all while competing in the best league in the country. And yet, his team remains No. 1. Hence why he's No. 1 on this list, too. -- Medcalf

2. Jon Scheyer, Duke Blue Devils

One look at how Rutgers' season has unfolded will tell you it's not easy to build a winner around young talent in the transfer portal era. But Duke is a national title contender because Scheyer has created a team as an astute general manager and leader of a Blue Devils squad that boasts the new front-runner for National Player of the Year (Cooper Flagg), owns the only victory in the country over No. 1 Auburn and features a defensive unit ranked second in adjusted efficiency.

The Blue Devils have more difference-making freshmen in Kon Knueppel, a 38% shooter from the 3-point line and double-figure scorer, and Khaman Maluach, who has a pair of double-doubles over the last three games. Scheyer also added toughness with Maliq Brown, Sion James and Mason Gillis from the transfer portal.

The result of Scheyer's team-building? If the season ended today, Duke would have the highest net rating on KenPom (plus-36.80) since it won the national championship in 2001. Yeah, the Duke preseason hype was immense, and Scheyer somehow has lived up to it. -- Medcalf

3. Darian DeVries, West Virginia Mountaineers

After leading Drake to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, DeVries moved east to Morgantown to take over a program that had gone through a tumultuous year following the departure of Bob Huggins. It wasn't expected to be easy. The Mountaineers were picked 13th in the preseason Big 12 poll -- and a 24-point loss to Pitt in the third game of the season wasn't a huge surprise. But DeVries has now guided the Mountaineers into the top 25 with wins over Iowa State, Kansas, Gonzaga and Arizona. And he's doing it without his son, star wing Tucker DeVries, who has been out since early December with a shoulder injury. All-America guard Javon Small has been one of the elite transfers in the country. -- Borzello

4. Todd Golden, Florida Gators

On the court, Golden and the Gators are a national championship contender. They opened the season with 13 straight wins, then pummeled a then-undefeated and top-ranked Tennessee by 30 points in early January. They were ranked No. 21 in the preseason AP poll, but Golden supplemented five key returnees with Florida Atlantic transfer Alijah Martin.

We would be remiss to not acknowledge that, off the court, Golden is the subject of a Title IX investigation spurred by multiple allegations of sexual harassment and stalking that became public in early November. He has acknowledged the inquiry, saying he has been participating, while also consulting with an attorney about bringing on defamation claims. But there's no timetable for the investigation to be resolved.

(A second Title IX complaint was filed against a member of Florida's coaching staff, Taurean Green, in January.) -- Borzello

5. Dennis Gates, Missouri Tigers

Last season's difficulties for Missouri look like an anomaly now with Gates a serious contender for SEC and national coach of the year awards.

Over a 96-day stretch in 2023-24, Gates' squad won a single game and ended the year on a 19-game losing streak that drew major concerns about his future. During that turbulent run, however, Gates preached about his program's potential. Fast forward to Dec. 8: Missouri beat then-No. 1 Kansas to match last season's total of eight wins, signaling one of the nation's most impressive turnarounds.

Duke transfer Mark Mitchell (13.4 points per game) leads a Tigers squad with four players averaging double figures. And a group that finished 145th on KenPom a year ago is now top 30 and comfortably in the NCAA tournament field. -- Medcalf

6. Tom Izzo, Michigan State Spartans

Just a few months ago, there was talk about whether Izzo was willing to adapt to the new world of college basketball in order to build a national championship contender again. The Spartans hadn't won more than 11 Big Ten games since 2020, finishing sixth or lower three times over that stretch. They weren't in the preseason Top 25, either. And yet, Izzo has Michigan State ranked in the top 10 in late January, unbeaten in Big Ten play and riding an 11-game winning streak.

Izzo has figured out how to have a legitimate 10-man rotation, and his decision to move Tre Holloman into the starting lineup in November jump-started their season. -- Borzello

7. Pat Kelsey, Louisville Cardinals

Kelsey is the perfect coach for a program that needed both a leader and a promoter -- he's spent the past few months running around Louisville's campus to compel fans to return to the KFC Yum! Center following last season's 8-24 campaign under former head coach Kenny Payne.

Kelsey has the personality for that grandstanding, but it's also clear he can coach. His team has won nine games in a row and could be Duke's biggest threat in the ACC title race despite losing South Florida transfer Kasean Pryor (12.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG) to an ACL tear earlier this season.

Kelsey's greatest feat? Landing Chucky Hepburn, who played below his potential a year ago at Wisconsin but discovered new life as the catalyst in a Louisville system that's top-20 in adjusted offensive efficiency. -- Medcalf

8. Brad Underwood, Illinois Fighting Illini

Every team in the transfer portal has endured turnover, but Underwood lost every key player -- including all-Big Ten first-team selections Terrence Shannon and Marcus Domask -- from an Illinois team that reached the Elite Eight a year ago.

This year, Underwood has managed to put together an even more balanced crew that sits near the top of Big Ten standings -- that reboot has been led by freshman Kasaparas Jacucionis, who anchors an Illini team that plays top-10 defense, scores efficiently inside the arc and competes as one of fastest in tempo in the country. Underwood's coaching prowess has allowed him to rebuild a team and put a freshman -- a projected lottery pick -- in the best position to lead this team. That's not easy to do, especially considering every piece he lost from last season's squad. -- Medcalf

9. T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State Cyclones

It's simply remarkable what Otzelberger has done since arriving in Ames in 2021 -- so maybe this shouldn't be a surprise. He's led the Cyclones to two Sweet 16 appearances in three seasons, including last year's 29-win campaign. And this season features his best team yet, a group that has a real chance to go to the program's first Final Four since 1944 and win its first Big 12 regular-season title since 2001. The Cyclones were ranked in the top five in the preseason, but have kept pace with Auburn and Duke at the top of the rankings through the first three months of the campaign despite not having a projected NBA draft pick. -- Borzello

10. Mark Pope, Kentucky Wildcats

When he was announced as the new head coach, many Kentucky fans booed the hire. But Pope -- a former captain on the school's 1996 national title team -- has quickly converted the fan base with a team-first approach and a collection of wins (Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville, Florida) that have positioned the Wildcats to secure a top-four seed on Selection Sunday.

This is Pope's team now. He has six players -- Koby Brea, Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams -- who can all be the team's biggest star on any given night. And he employs a video-game-like, free-flowing style that has produced at least 90 points in nine games.

With the spotlight on him and his program, Pope hasn't flinched in his debut campaign. -- Medcalf

11. Chris Jans, Mississippi State Bulldogs

Jans took Mississippi State to back-to-back NCAA tournaments in his first two seasons in Starkville, the first time the Bulldogs went to consecutive tournaments since 2008 and 2009 under Rick Stansbury. Even with their recent history, they were picked just 10th in the preseason SEC poll. And yet, despite Tuesday's loss at Tennessee, Jans has Mississippi State ranked in the top 15 and tracking toward the program's best NCAA tournament seed since 2019. The Bulldogs opened the season with 14 wins in their first 15 games, including a road victory at Memphis and also beat in-state rival Ole Miss last weekend. -- Borzello

12. Penny Hardaway, Memphis Tigers

After last season's collapse, Hardaway and the Tigers entered this year with minimal expectations. Coming off a season in which they went from the top 10 in January to missing the postseason entirely -- losing eight of their final 15 games -- their entire roster departed, leaving just one returnee. And then Hardaway fired three assistant coaches and a fourth staff member two months before the season.

There was considerable hot seat chatter surrounding Hardaway. The Tigers weren't even picked to win a depleted AAC. But now he and his rebuilt roster have Memphis in the Top 25 with an elite collection of wins -- Michigan State, Ole Miss, Missouri, UConn and Clemson -- and the Tigers are the overwhelming favorites to win the AAC and get their best NCAA tournament seed of the Hardaway era. -- Borzello

13. Shaka Smart, Marquette Golden Eagles

Despite losing Tyler Kolek (Knicks) and Oso Ighodaro (Suns) to the NBA draft, Smart's squad is still both top 25 in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency. And while All-America contender Kam Jones is not the 3-point shooter he was a year ago, he is a better playmaker (2.4 assists per game in 2023-24 to 6.5 APG in 2024-25), which has allowed the players around him to blossom, too.

The Golden Eagles were picked to finish fourth in the Big East behind UConn, Xavier and Creighton, but they enter their Friday matchup against Villanova in a tie with St. John's for first place. The second-half of their league slate includes matchups against UConn (twice), St. John's (twice) and Creighton (on the road), so their toughest tests are ahead. But Smart has been excellent after losing a pair of players who helped his team secure a 2-seed in the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons. -- Medcalf

14. Rick Barnes, Tennessee Volunteers

Had we done this three weeks ago, Barnes might have been No. 1. The Volunteers were the nation's final unbeaten team, winning their first 14 games before losing by 30 at Florida on Jan. 7. They've bounced back, though, winning three of their past four games entering this Saturday's game at Auburn. All Barnes did was replace the nation's best transfer of last season in Dalton Knecht with perhaps the nation's best transfer of this season in Chaz Lanier, all while maintaining the Vols' typical elite defense and carrying over their offensive improvements from last season.

Now the question is: After falling one game short last season, can Barnes lead Tennessee to the program's first Final Four? -- Borzello

15. Dusty May, Michigan Wolverines

All you need to know about May's spot on this list is that Danny Wolf is a 7-footer who is playing point guard in a pick-and-roll scheme with 7-toot-1 Vlad Goldin -- and Michigan is top 25 in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency as a result. The scheme was so daring both Goldin and Wolf rejected the idea when May first presented it. Now, it could be the reason that the Wolverines capture the Big Ten title and Wolf makes millions in the NBA (he's a projected first-round pick in ESPN's latest 2025 mock draft) in May's first season after his run at Florida Atlantic that included a 2023 Final Four trip.

May is not the first coach to succeed in his debut season at a new job, but he took a massive risk when he put a pair of 7-footers together and asked them to run his team. How many coaches would even attempt that move in Year 1? -- Medcalf