Winner From the Start: Boeheim Sees Only Positive Results

The most illuminating item about Jim Boeheim passing Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) to rank fourth among the nation's all-time winningest coaches is that the bespectacled "Baron of Upstate New York" has a stunning streak of nothing but winning records in 35 seasons with Syracuse. His worst worksheet was 16-13 in 1981-82 when the NIT-bound Orange dropped four of its last five outings.

Rupp never had a losing record in 41 campaigns but did post one breakeven mark with UK (13-13 in 1966-67). When assessing this topic, keep in mind the following mentors among the all-time biggest winners each had multiple non-winning seasons: Phog Allen (four non-winning records), Jim Calhoun (six), Lefty Driesell (four), Lou Henson (eight), Hank Iba (eight), Bob Knight (two), Mike Krzyzewski (four), Lute Olson (three), Dean Smith (two) and Eddie Sutton (two).

Boeheim entered this season with the best record among active coaches in close contests (189-117 mark in games decided by fewer than six points, 61.8%). He is atop the list of five major-college coaches in history with winning marks every year in college careers spanning more than 20 years.

Coach	Seasons	Closest to Non-Winning Record
Jim Boeheim	35	16-13 (Syracuse in 1981-82)
*Jerry Tarkanian	31	16-12 (UNLV in 1980-81) and 19-15 (Fresno State in 2001-02)
John Wooden	29	14-12 (UCLA in 1959-60)
Lou Carnesecca	24	17-12 (St. John's in 1987-88)
Peck Hickman	23	13-12 (Louisville in 1957-58)

*Tarkanian also compiled seven more winning records in as many seasons for two community colleges in California, where he won five consecutive state championships after notching a 14-13 mark in 1961-62 at Riverside City College to begin his coaching odyssey.