How did every first-year mid-major coach do in 2025-26?
Mar 19, 2026; Buffalo, NY, USA; South Florida Bulls head coach Bryan Hodgson reacts during the second half against the Louisville Cardinals during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Keybank Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images A year ago, I wrote about my three favorite mid-major coaching hires from that cycle. It featured Eric Olen (New Mexico), Bryan Hodgson (South Florida) and Lennie Acuff (Samford).
We now know that Olen made the NIT semifinals in year one, Hodgson made the NCAA Tournament in year one and is off to Providence, and Acuff led Samford to an 11-7 record in SoCon play, figuring it out by the end of the year. But how about the other first-year coaches in mid-major basketball? And how do those three stack up against the pack?
Over the course of the season, I’ve been keeping track of the KenPom ratings for each first-year head coach vs. where the team was situated in the preseason. Obviously, this is very noisy.
It has flaws. One coach told me that the simple equation penalizes coaches for recruiting well, or celebrates those who recruit poorly, then outkick their coverage. But it does a pretty good job of assessing who outperformed expectations in year one.
So, let’s take a look. View Link Here are a few takeaways: How my top three did Bryan Hodgson had the second-highest overperformance in mid-major basketball, finishing 10. 34 rating points higher than preseason rating.
Continue to the original source for the full article.