| 1978 | 1979 | 1980 |
Active and Former (20+ games)
| Rank | Coach, Schools (*=not active) | Yrs. | W-L | Pct. | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| 1 | John Wooden*, UCLA | 29 | 47-10 | .825 | 12 | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | Al McGuire*, Marquette | 20 | 20-9 | .690 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | Hank Iba*, Oklahoma State | 41 | 15-7 | .682 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| T4 | Frank McGuire, South Carolina | 29 | 14-8 | .636 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| T4 | Jerry Tarkanian, UNLV | 11 | 14-8 | .636 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Adolph Rupp*, Kentucky | 42 | 30-18 | .625 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 7 | Dean Smith, North Carolina | 18 | 16-11 | .593 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | Digger Phelps, Notre Dame | 9 | 12-9 | .571 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Ray Meyer, DePaul | 37 | 13-12 | .520 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| T10 | Guy Lewis, Houston | 23 | 14-14 | .500 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| T10 | Jack Gardner*, (Kansas State, Utah) | 28 | 12-12 | .500 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| National Champs: | Michigan State | Jud Heathcote |
| Second place: | Indiana State | Bill Hodges |
| Third place: | DePaul | Ray Meyer |
| Fourth place: | Pennsylvania | Bob Weinhauer |
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DePaul returns to the Final Four for the first time since its first tournament appearance in 1943, getting Ray Meyer out of last place at .520, his first time over .500 since that first tournament win. In 1943, with only eight teams invited, just one win was needed to get to the semi-finals, so Meyer only had a 1-1 record to show for that first Final Four appearance. |
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Another North Carolina first game loss (first round bye) drops Dean Smith below .600 to .593, though he holds onto seventh place. |
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Notre Dame wins two, improving Digger Phelps's record to .571 and allowing Phelps to debut on the list in eighth place. |
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The field is expanded to 40 teams with 8 teams playing a small first round and 24 teams getting a first round bye. |
