5 coaches in line to win their first NCAA Women’s Tournament

1. Vic Schaefer, Texas

While at Mississippi State, Vic Schaefer went to back-to-back title games, losing in 2017 and 2018.

Schaefer’s had a strange head coaching career. He spent seven seasons as the head coach of Southland program Sam Houston, going 80-110 and posting just one season with a winning record. After that tenure, he became an assistant, first at Arkansas and then from 2003-2012 at Texas A&M, where he coached under Gary Blair.

And, well, Blair must have taught him a lot, because when Schaefer was given another shot to be a head coach, he took advantage. Mississippi State posted consecutive seasons under .500 in the two years before Schaefer took over. Schaefer’s first year was a continuation of that, as the team went 13-17. But Mississippi State would win 20 or more games for the rest of Schaefer’s time, including three seasons with 30-plus wins and a 16-0 SEC record in the 2017-18 season.

Schaefer made his mark on defense, consistently coaching some of the top defensive squads in the country.

Before last season, Schaefer replaced Karen Aston at Texas. The Horns had underperformed with Aston; Schaefer came in and took the program on a surprising run to the Elite Eight. And then this season, the team got better, going 26-6 despite losing last year’s star, Charli Collier, when she declared a year early for the WNBA.

But Schaefer brought in a great freshman point guard, Rori Harmon, this season, who runs the offense like a veteran. This team has already defeated defending champion Stanford in the regular season. Can Schaefer’s defense get Texas an NCAA title?

For more NCAA basketball news, analysis, opinion and features, check out more from the FanSided college basketball section to stay on top of the latest action.