Ranking Kentucky basketball coaches by their NCAA Tournament records
By Sam Fariss
Tubby Smith. . . 3. Tubby Smith. Tubby Smith. 1997-2007. 23-9 NCAA Tournament record. player. 833
Tubby Smith had to follow Rick Pitino’s astronomical winning rate with the Wildcats and he did it extremely well.
Beyond his 76.4 overall win percentage, Smith led Kentucky to its seventh NCAA Tournament title and only dropped the ball nine times in the postseason.
Smith ruddered the ship to a national championship in his first year with the Wildcats but struggled slightly after his first season of raucous success.
Failing to find his way past the regional finals in the years that followed, Smith’s NCAA Tournament appearances didn’t amount to many rings but he did finish his tenure at Kentuck with a 71.9 percent win rate in March Madness.