Will Scott Cross and Brent Key become one of the top Coaching Combos in College Sports?

Georgia Tech is trying to revamp its basketball program with another hire and former Troy head coach Scott Cross is the latest coach that is going to be trying to get the Yellow Jackets program back on track. Georgia Tech has made the NCAA Tournament only four times since they were in the national championship game in 2004 and only advanced past the first round in half of those appearances.

Cross is hoping that he can do with the basketball program what Brent Key has done for Georgia Tech Football.

Key's Impact

While Georgia Tech football had more success and was not in the kind of drought that the basketball program has been, football had fallen on hard times during the Geoff Collins era and during the middle of the 2022 season when he had been named as the interim head coach, Key started the turnaround.

Georgia Tech has gone 7-6 twice and 9-4 last season, with last year's record being the best Georgia Tech record since the 2016 season. The Yellow Jackets had a disappointing end to the season after an 8-0 start, but things have been trending up for this program since Key took over and he is looking to keep that momentum going heading into 2026.

If Cross can have that kind of success, than both head coaches could soon be mentioned as one of the top coaching duos in college athletics, which is always a topic when March Madness rolls around.

BetMGM released its top eight CFB/CBB coaching duos on Monday.

Only one of the schools ranked has a coach with a national championship, and that school is last on its list.https://t.co/vG00tWRpu5 pic.twitter.com/tem4JmVL6k
— Zach Abolverdi (@ZachAbolverdi) March 17, 2026

What will it take for Key and Cross to enter the conversation of those coaching duos above?

If Cross can get Georgia Tech back to contention for at least at-large bids in the NCAA Tournament, that would be a huge step in the right direction. Key has periodically taken steps forward in the win column at Georgia Tech and now the next step for his program is going to be winning the ACC for the first time since 2009. They were close last year and there are plenty of questions about the rest of the ACC heading into the year.

While they won't crack the top of the list immediately, there is room to sneak into the bottom of the list. While Todd Golden has a national championship at Florida, Jon Sumrall has not proven he can win in the SEC. Mario Cristobal got Miami to the national championship last season, but that was the first real season of success at Miami while Jai Lucas has only been at Miami for one season. Tony Elliott got UVA to the ACC Championship last season, but that was his first winning season in Charlottesville.

This has a chance to become one of the better football/basketball duos in college sports, but both coaches still have to prove they can win at the highest level and have a big breakthrough.