Oldest coaches remaining in March Madness: Where Rick Pitino, Tom Izzo, more rank in 2026 tournament

Oldest coaches remaining in March Madness: Where Rick Pitino, Tom Izzo, more rank in 2026 tournament originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The 2026 Sweet 16 is star-studded and full of big names across the four power conferences.

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While the East Region has gotten notoriety for being a gauntlet with four power coaches fighting for one Final Four spot, all four regions feature notable coaches. However, while all four regions enter the Sweet 16 with fascinating storylines regarding the remaining coaches.

There is a 35-year age difference between the oldest coach and youngest coach left in the tournament, but all that matters is who comes out on top at the end of the madness. Here’s a look at each coach’s age among those remaining.

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Oldest coaches remaining in March Madness

1. Rick Pitino, St. John’s

National Championships: 2

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Rick Pitino is the oldest and most experienced coach in the Sweet 16, having been a head coach for seven different college teams since 1975. Pitino has seven Final Four appearances to go along with two National Championships at Kentucky and Louisville, as he is considered one of the best basketball coaches in NCAA basketball history.

Pitino’s 915 wins are the third-most in NCAA history, and he could become the third coach to reach 1,000 wins if he coaches a few more years. Only Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim have more wins, but neither of those two bounced around between jobs like Pitino did.

Of course, Pitino did have some wins from his time with Louisville vacated by the NCAA, which also led to dismissal from the program.  Regardless, no coach has done it like him.

2. Rick Barnes, Tennessee

National Championships: 0

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While Rick Barnes has just one Final Four in his storied career, the veteran coach is one of the most consistent in college basketball. Barnes has coached at five different…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/oldest-coaches-remaining-march-madness-093002011.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-27 09:30:00

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