Sweet 16 Bracket: Power Ranking the 2010 Sweet 16 Head Coaches

What started as a fun adventure into the world of college basketball coaching legends quickly turned into a stressful deliberation that took nearly as long as it took Congress to pass the SirusXM merger.

The assumption was that this list would be easy to compile, analyze, and rank.

How horribly wrong that assumption was, because this year's list of head coaches remaining in the tournament is chock-full of coaching geniuses.

Some are up-and-comers, thirsty for a taste of blood. Some are well-established veterans, poised for a run at another championship.

Out of fairness, the sole criteria involved in power ranking these Sweet 16 coaches was past NCAA tournament experience.

Still, the list might surprise you.

16. Chris Mack, Xavier

In his first year as head coach at Xavier, and on his first trip to the NCAA tournament as head coach, Chris Mack has guided Xavier to the Sweet 16 of the tournament.

Maybe the Blue Blob is a good luck charm for Mack.

15. Frank Martin, Kansas State

Kansas State has seen postseason action in all three years Frank Martin has been head coach at Kansas State. Two of those three years, he has led the Wildcats to at least the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Martin and the Wildcats could take a legitimate shot at the title this year.

14. Scott Drew, Baylor

Scott Drew has undeniably done a remarkable job at rebuilding the Baylor basketball program. Baylor's 26-7 record this year is the best during his tenure as head coach.

Drew has coached his squad to two separate NCAA tournament berths and runner-up in the 2009 NIT.

13. Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa

In four years as head coach, Ben Jacobson has taken the Northern Iowa Panthers to two straight NCAA tournaments.

He is a coach on the rise in college basketball, and this year's Sweet 16 run might land him a major college job offer or two.

12. Brad Stevens, Butler

After taking over as head coach at Butler, Brad Stevens has taken his team to three straight trips to the NCAA tournament.

Not bad for only being 33 years old.

11. Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s

Randy Bennett has led the St. Mary's Gaels to a 155-97 record in his eight years as head coach. In those eight years, he has earned three trips to the NCAA tournament.

10. Steve Donahue, Cornell

Steve Donahue has been coach at Cornell University since 2000. He has taken the school on three straight trips to the NCAA tournament, including this year's Sweet 16.

9. Lorenzo Romar, Washington

Lorenzo Romar is a veteran coach with a total of six trips to the NCAA tournament under his belt. He has taken the Washington men's basketball team to the tournament five times, including three Sweet 16 trips.

8. Matt Painter, Purdue

Matt Painter's NCAA tournament experience might surprise some people. Painter has five total NCAA tournament trips on his résumé, including four straight tournament trips while head coach at Purdue.

This is Painter's second straight Sweet 16 appearance.

7. Thad Matta, Ohio State

Thad Matta's coaching résumé is impressive and diverse. He has eight appearances in the NCAA tournament and has guided three different schools to at least the second round.

As head coach at Ohio State, he led the team to the NCAA runner-up in 2007.

6. Bruce Pearl, Tennessee

Bruce Pearl is on the verge of becoming one of the coaching greats in college basketball.

Pearl is the second-fastest NCAA coach to reach 300 victories as head coach and has been to the NCAA tournament for the past six years straight.

In addition to the NCAA Men's Division II Tournament Championship in 1995, he led the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles to nine straight NCAA D-II tournaments. Then he took Milwaukee to the NCAA tournament twice.

Pearl has taken Tennessee to the tournament every year he has coached there and has a total of four Sweet 16 appearances under his belt.

5. Bob Huggins, West Virginia

Bob Huggins is an NCAA tournament god.

Huggins has made 17 appearances in the tournament as a head coach, including 14 straight appearances while coaching at Cincinnati.

He has earned four Sweet 16 appearances along the way.

4. John Calipari, Kentucky

John Calipari's coaching ability needs no introduction.

He has made seven Sweet 16 appearances, four trips to the Elite Eight, and was the NCAA runner-up in 2008.

Calipari is one of only four coaches to direct two different colleges to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

3. Tom Izzo, Michigan State

Tom Izzo's record as a head coach is jaw-droppingly impressive.

For starters, every MSU basketball player who has stayed four years under Coach Izzo has played in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.

He has been invited to the past 13 consecutive NCAA tournaments, made nine Sweet 16 appearances, six Elite Eight appearances, five Final Four appearances, and two championship game appearances.

In 2000, Izzo won the NCAA Division I National Championship.

2. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

Jim Boeheim has made 27 NCAA tournament appearances as head coach.

Of those 27 trips to the tournament, he made the Sweet 16 on 15 separate occasions and the Final Four three times.

Boeheim earned an NCAA National Championship in 2003.

1. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke

If there is such a thing as a coaching steroid, Mike Krzyzewski is injecting himself with gallons of it daily.

Krzyzewski has taken his team to the postseason in 27 of his 30 years at Duke. He is the winningest active coach in NCAA tournament play.

He has taken Duke to 10 Final Fours and has won three NCAA National Championships.

2010 could be Krzyzewski's fourth championship year.