Winner From Start: Boeheim's Streak of Winning Seasons in Serious Jeopardy

In the throes of fallout from suspension stemming from off-the-court conflict, the most illuminating item about Jim Boeheim ranking among the nation's all-time winningest coaches is the bespectacled "Baron of Upstate New York" assembled a stunning streak of nothing but winning records in his first 40 seasons with Syracuse. En route to his 1,000th career win midway through the ACC campaign, Boeheim's worst worksheet was 16-13 in 1981-82 when the NIT-bound Orange dropped four of its last five outings.

SU is in serious peril of its first losing campaign under Boeheim after an alarming span succumbing against Connecticut, Georgetown, St. John's and Boston College. Keep in mind these four former Big East Conference rivals collectively lost in pre-league play this season to opponents such as Arkansas State, Delaware State, Fairfield, Hartford, LIU, Nicholls State, Northeastern and Wagner. The Cuse abuse included its most lopsided loss under Boeheim (33-point margin at home vs. St. John's).

Adolph Rupp never had a losing record in 41 campaigns but did post one breakeven mark with Kentucky (13-13 in 1966-67). When assessing this topic, keep in mind the following mentors among the all-time biggest winners each had multiple non-winning seasons: Phog Allen (four non-winning records), Jim Calhoun (six), Lefty Driesell (four), Lou Henson (eight), Hank Iba (eight), Bob Knight (two), Mike Krzyzewski (four), Lute Olson (three), Dean Smith (two) and Eddie Sutton (two).

Boeheim boasts the best record among active coaches in close contests, winning more than 60% of games decided by fewer than six points. For now, he is atop the list of five major-college coaches in history with winning marks every year in college careers spanning more than 20 years.

Coach	Seasons	Campaign Closest to Non-Winning Record
Jim Boeheim	40	16-13 (Syracuse in sixth season in 1981-82)
*Jerry Tarkanian	31	16-12 (UNLV in eighth of 19 seasons with Rebels in 1980-81) and 19-15 (Fresno State in seventh of seven seasons with Bulldogs in 2001-02)
John Wooden	29	14-12 (UCLA in 12th of 27 seasons with Bruins in 1959-60)
Lou Carnesecca	24	17-12 (St. John's in 20th season in 1987-88)
Peck Hickman	23	13-12 (Louisville in 14th season in 1957-58)

*Tarkanian also compiled seven more winning records in as many seasons for two community colleges in California, where he won five consecutive state championships after notching a 14-13 mark in 1961-62 at Riverside City College to begin his coaching odyssey.