Double Trouble: Celebrated Coaches Lose Often to Double-Digit Seeded Foes
It's not dumping on Duke, but is double-digit NCAA defeats trending for Mike Krzyzewski, who was eliminated from the national tournament for the third time in the last eight years by a double-digit seeded opponent? At least none of the three were against an Atlantic 10 Conference member at the time. Similarly, new ACC member Syracuse bowed out against #11 Dayton, making Jim Boeheim the first coach ever to lose six games against double-digit seeded foes.
Last year, Georgetown coach John Thompson III joined Bobby Cremins as the only coaches in NCAA Tournament history to be eliminated four straight seasons from the playoffs by opponents with double-digit seeds. Granted, seedings can be very misleading after the process was introduced in 1979. With more parity and balance than ever before, there isn't much difference between a No. 4 seed and a No. 13 seed. Just ask Kansas' Bill Self after the Jayhawks exited at the hands of #10 Stanford.
But Boeheim, Krzyzewski, Self and Thompson might need inoculation against teams with worse seeds. Following is an alphabetical list of prominent coaches absorbing at least three NCAA Tournament defeats in a span of 10 years or fewer with the same school against opponents with double-digit seeds:
| Marquee Coach | School | Three or More Losses vs. Double-Digit Seeded Opponents in Fewer Than 10 Years |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Boeheim | Syracuse | 2005/#13 Vermont, 2006/#12 Texas A&M, 2011/#11 Marquette and 2014/#11 Dayton |
| Dale Brown | Louisiana State | 1984/#10 Dayton, 1985/#13 Navy, and 1991/#11 Connecticut |
| Bobby Cremins | Georgia Tech | 1986/#11 LSU, 1987/#10 LSU, 1988/#13 Richmond, 1989/#11 Texas and 1993/#13 Southern |
| Lou Henson | Illinois | 1983/#10 Utah, 1987/#14 Austin Peay State and 1990/#12 Dayton |
| Gene Keady | Purdue | 1985/#11 Auburn, 1986/#11 Louisiana State, 1990/#10 Texas, 1991/#10 Temple and 1995/#14 Wisconsin-Green Bay |
| Mike Krzyzewski | Duke | 2007/#11 Virginia Commonwealth, 2012/#15 Lehigh and 2014/#14 Mercer |
| Ralph Miller | Oregon State | 1980/#10 Lamar, 1984/#11 West Virginia and 1989/#11 Evansville |
| Lute Olson | Arizona | 1992/#14 East Tennessee State, 1993/#15 Santa Clara and 1995/#12 Ball State |
| Bo Ryan | Wisconsin | 2008/#10 Davidson, 2010/#12 Cornell and 2013/#12 Ole Miss |
| Wimp Sanderson | Alabama | 1983/#11 Lamar, 1989/#11 South Alabama, and 1990/#11 Loyola Marymount |
| Bill Self | Kansas | 2005/#14 Bucknell, 2006/#13 Bradley, 2011/#11 Virginia Commonwealth and 2014/#10 Stanford |
| Kevin Stallings | Vanderbilt | 2008/#13 Siena, 2010/#13 Murray State and 2011/#12 Richmond |
| Norm Stewart | Missouri | 1987/#13 Xavier, 1988/#11 Rhode Island and 1990/#14 Northern Iowa |
| John Thompson III | Georgetown | 2008/#10 Davidson, 2010/#14 Ohio University, 2011/#11 Virginia Commonwealth, 2012/#11 North Carolina State and 2013/#15 Florida Gulf Coast |
| Billy Tubbs | Oklahoma | 1984/#10 Dayton, 1986/#12 DePaul and 1992/#13 Southwestern Louisiana |