[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="598"]
Via BourbonBlog.com[/caption]
Worried about the sweet 16 match-up this Thursday with West Virginia? If you look at Cal's record over the past 10 years in the NCAA tournament you probably shouldn't be.
Cal holds a record of 7-1 in the Sweet 16 since bringing Memphis to national prominence including a 4-0 mark while at Kentucky. Over the past 10 seasons no coach has dominated the tournament like our own Coach Cal. You can see just how well he has finished in the table below:
| Year |
Finish |
Seed? |
Lost to |
| 05-06 |
Elite 8 |
1 seed |
2 seed UCLA |
| 06-07 |
Elite 8 |
2 seed |
1 seed Ohio State |
| 07-08 |
Runner-Up |
1 seed |
1 seed Kansas |
| 08-09 |
Sweet 16 |
2 seed |
3 seed Missouri |
| 09-10 |
Elite 8 |
1 seed |
2 seed WVU |
| 10-11 |
Final 4 |
4 seed |
3 seed UCONN |
| 11-12 |
Champions |
1 seed |
N/A |
| 12-13 |
NIT |
N/A |
N/A |
| 13-14 |
Runner-Up |
8 seed |
7 seed UCONN |
| 14-15 |
??? |
1 seed |
??? |
Some amazing stats pop out by looking over that chart.
Over the past decade Cal has yet to lose to a team more than one seed removed from his own. Only twice (if you count the NIT) has he not at least made the Elite Eight. Not a very good omen for 5-seed West Virginia.
If you still need convincing he's the top coach in the game just look at
how Cal's best finishes from 06 to present compare with other title winners during that span:
Coach Cal: 1 championship, 2 runners-up, 1 final four, 3 elite eights, 1 sweet 16
Billy Donovan: 2 championships, 1 final four, 3 elite eights.
Bill Self: 1 championship, 1 runner-up, 2 elite eights, 1 sweet 16.
Roy Williams: 1 championship, 1 final four, 3 elite eights.
Rick Pitino: 1 championship, 1 final four, 2 elite eights, 1 sweet 16.
Coach K: 1 championship, 1 elite eight, 3 sweet 16s.
Cal, Williams, Pitino, and Coach K will all add at least another Sweet 16 to that resume as they all play later this week. Self, as you know, just flamed out in the Round of 32 for the second year in a row and Florida didn't even make the NIT.
The bottom line, nobody has dominated the NCAA tournament like Cal over the past decade and he doesn't appear to be letting up this year.
Its an amazing feat in the modern era and one worthy of some recognition before the sweet 16 tips this Thursday. Go Cal, go Cats.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard