Murray's Kennedy joins elite class with OVC tournament win

Last weekend Murray State coach Billy Kennedy led his team to the NCAA basketball tournament after his Racers defeated Morehead State in the finals of the OVC tournament. He now joins an elite group of 38 college coaches who have taken two different teams to the big dance. He also did it at Southeastern Louisiana in 2005, his alma mater.

Murray has gone 17-1 this year, and 30-4 overall. The 30 wins this season at MSU is a school record. Kennedy's team also set the single-season victories record at SLU, winning 24, in 2005.

Kennedy's accomplishments have led him to be recognized as one of 15 finalists for the Durham Coach of the Year award, an award given by CollegeInsider.com to the best mid-major coach in the country.

Big props to all Kennedy has done for the Murray State program. Let's hope he can extend his team's momentum into the tournament this year.

The list of other coaches that have led two teams to the NCAA tournament:

Coach First Team /Second Team

Billy Kennedy Southeastern Louisiana/Murray State

Steve Alford Missouri St. /Iowa

Dana Altman Kansas St. /Creighton

Ladell Andersen Utah St. /BYU

Forddy Anderson Bradley/Michigan St.

Mike Anderson UAB/Missouri

Tevester Anderson Murray St./Jackson St.

Murray Arnold Chattanooga/Western Ky.

Ronnie Arrow South Ala./A&M-Corpus Christi

Tom Asbury Pepperdine/Kansas St.

J.D. Barnett VCU/Tulsa

Jim Baron St. Francis (PA)/St. Bonaventure

Murry Bartow UAB/East Tenn. St.

Steve Belko Idaho St. /Oregon

Bob Bender Illinois St. /Washington

Dick Bennett Green Bay/Wisconsin

Bob Boyd Seattle Southern/ California

Todd Bozeman California/Morgan St.

Harold Bradley Duke /Texas

Buster Brannon Rice/TCU

Ben Braun Eastern Wash./California

Mike Brey Delaware/Notre Dame

Larry Brown UCLA/Kansas

Brad Brownell UNC/Wilmington Wright St.

Jim Calhoun Northeastern/Connecticut

John Calipari Massachusetts/Memphis

Lou Campanelli James Madison/California

Jeff Capel N.C. A&T/Old Dominion

Jeff Capel III VCU /Oklahoma

Ben Carnevale North Carolina/Navy

Gale Catlett Cincinnati/West Virginia

Perry Clark Tulane/Miami (FL)

Charlie Coles Central Mich./Miami (OH)

Ozzie Cowles Dartmouth/Michigan

Bobby Cremins Appalachian St./Georgia Tech

Tom Davis Boston College/Iowa

Benny Dees New Orleans/Wyoming

Bob Donewald Illinois St./Western Mich.

Fran Dunphy Penn/Temple