The Field of 68 ranks Texas as the second-best job in the SEC

Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 (part of On3 now, by the way) released his SEC basketball job rankings earlier today. There isn’t a ton of controversy surrounding his selection for the No. 1 team. Kentucky has been the basketball school in a football conference dating back generations.

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But the school Goodman listed as No. 2 in his rankings? Texas.

Goodman created his list by “anonymously polling veteran coaches (head coaches and assistants) in each conference. There are no specific parameters. Each coach was able to utilize their own specific parameters to determine their list from top to bottom. However, while recruiting base and facilities were a major factor when I did a similar exercise in 2018, now it’s obviously financial resources (NIL) that are paramount.”

And according to the data he received, Texas was ahead of a number of teams who have made Final Four appearances or, in the case of Florida, won national titles.

Here were Goodman’s rankings and the score he assigned to each team.

1. Kentucky – 256 (16)
2. Texas – 222
3. Arkansas – 218
4. Tennessee – 212
5. Florida – 210
6. Texas A&M – 148
7. Alabama – 146
8. Missouri – 140
9. Auburn – 138
10. LSU – 110
11. Georgia – 100
12. Vanderbilt – 88
13. Ole Miss – 72
14. Oklahoma – 60
15. Mississippi State – 32
16. South Carolina – 24

Why was Texas No. 2?

“Money,” one of the anonymously polled coaches told Goodman. “I know it’s not a basketball school, but they still have the money to go get dudes. Chris Beard had that thing rolling, and Rick Barnes did it for a couple decades.”

Beard did have things rolling in his second year before his dismissal surrounding his arrest, but Texas only went as far as the Elite Eight. Barnes made the tournament in 16 of his 17 years in Austin.

Looking at other coaches, Shaka Smart‘s tenure had the wrong mixture of volatility and lack of great successes outside of one run to the Big 12 Tournament championship. Smart never logged a NCAA Tournament win at Texas, but his initial hire did show that the program in Austin was a place that could attract coaches who passed on other high-quality opportunities.

Rodney Terry was kept as permanent head coach to reward his efforts in leading the Longhorns following Beard’s dismissal, but he couldn’t replicate the magic of the 2023 run in his ensuing two seasons.

Sean Miller, who was at a die-hard basketball-focused Big East school in Xavier, left Cincinnati for Austin in 2025 in order to lead Texas. It was the first time in his career that he was at a school where football was No. 1. Even at Arizona, the Wildcat basketball program made far more noise than the football program. Miller wasn’t phased by his place in the pecking order within his new fanbase. He believed Texas would be his last job. That’s the type of description that means something to basketball coaches.

“I look at this as my final opportunity,” Miller said at his introduction. “I’ve been blessed to be at two amazing places at the University of Arizona and Xavier. Xavier is a little unique because it came at two different times and two different conferences. This right here, I think after 20 years of being at those two places, this becomes I think the final piece to my puzzle. That’s how I look at it. The final run, and hopefully it’ll be the best one.”

Texas has long been viewed as a job with a lot of potential. The Moody Center and the program’s practice facility are top-notch. There is access to significant NIL resources and revenue sharing money, a characteristic that vaulted Texas to No. 2 in the minds of coaches. Plus, Texas claims a NBA pipeline that rivals those of the actual blue bloods with national title banners and Final Four appearances.

Texas lacks those Final Four appearances, with just one this century. Kentucky and Florida have won national championships in the 2000s, and those schools along with Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma, and South Carolina have all made a national semifinals appearance since TJ Ford and the Horns went to New Orleans in 2003.

But the Longhorns job is one that holds a significant place in the minds of opposing coaches. Miller said he came to Texas for it to be his last job. Actualizing the potential of the role into reality is what will determine if Miller did a great job at a great job.