Inspired by this post, Coach Rank 2009 is The Dagger's creatively named inaugural look at which conferences have the best coaches, and why. After we get through the major conferences, we'll rank them. The whole goal is to make you argue about something that's impossible to prove in any objective way. Sports! Let's do this!

Thus far, wCoach Rank has managed to cover, in a sporadically scheduled fashion, the major conferences' best coaches. You may or may not agree -- the impending final rankings will no doubt cause shockwaves of anger and doubt throughout the college basketball media landscape (right) -- but at least you've had a lot of not-always sensical words to read. That's always fun.

Now? A quick run-through of the Top Five Mid-Major Coaches Unless I Forgot Anyone In Which Case Just Email Me. Ready? OK.

5. Dana Altman, Creighton: On Feb. 9, 2009, Dana Altman won his 300th game as Creighton's head coach. There aren't many mid-major coaches that can say that, but it's not just about longevity. It's about longevity and success. Under Altman -- who took the Creighton job in 1994 after a forgettable four-year stint at Kansas State -- Creighton has been to seven NCAA tournaments, twice progressing to the second round, and to the NIT five times. That totals 12 postseason appearances, all 12 of which have come in Altman's last 12 years. Once he built the program, he built it good. (Creighton also had a legitimate case for inclusion in the 2008-09 NCAA tourney, but let's not get into that argument again. I fear the wrath of The Bilas.)

At this point, Creighton's program is so good that it has trouble scheduling; major conference teams have no interest in playing the Bluejays whether at home or on the road, and so the team's resumes are occasionally lacking in "big wins." That's a pain. It's also a testament to what Altman has built. Like the town in which it resides (Omaha), Creighton's basketball team is something of an unknown wonder. Upon closer inspection, there's much more there than you would assume.

4. Brad Stevens, Butler: Brad Stevens is one of those mid-major coaches, the guys that seem so freakishly young they can't possibly be the coach. Stevens is 32. He appears much younger. Any reasonable estimate would put him at 24, and maybe even that's a little generous. The point is that while a lot of mid-major coaches these days seem like wunderkinds, few give off the vibe more than Stevens, and thus far, he's lived up to the billing. In two years since taking over for Todd Lickliter, Stevens has been to the NCAA tournament two times. 2008-09 was his bigger accomplishment. Rather than suffer the expected downtown after the graduation of A.J. Graves and other key Butler stars from the 2007-08 team that went 30-4, Butler hovered near the top 25 for most of the season and fought to the NCAA tournament yet again. If Stevens can keep this going, he'll be a much more famous wunderkind before he knows it. Sort of like Nate Silver.

3. Jim Larranaga, George Mason: Jim Larranaga -- two "r's", one "n"; you can spell this right Eamonn, you can do this -- is known nationally for one thing: 2005-06. That's the year the Larranaga-coached George Mason Patriots made their legendary run from a No. 11 seed to the Final Four, the year they beat Michigan State, North Carolina, and UConn on their way there, the year that helped reaffirm everyone's faith (not that it was ever lost) that in the NCAA tournament, anything can happen. Larranaga was the architect, and for that alone he deserves inclusion on the list.

That might be selling him slightly short, though. Larranaga's teams are consistently competitive. They've been to the tournament three other time, and would have gone to two more were it not for Eric Maynor's recent dominance. He's more than a one-hit wonder. There's a reason the 2005-06 team happened. It wasn't a fluke. It was Larranaga.

2. Dave Rose, BYU: In every year but his first, Dave Rose and the BYU Cougars have done the following: 24-plus wins, (12-plus in conference), three first place finishes in the Mountain West, and three straight trips to the NCAA tournament. They've also lost all three opening round games. So there's an argument in here somewhere that Rose is as good as someone like Larranaga, but I won't be making it. That's a little like arguing that Alex Rodriguez isn't a good baseball player because he hasn't won a World Series. Somewhere causation stops and correlation begins. Anyway, Rose has done more than anyone could have asked in three years at BYU: he's built efficient, smart teams that consistently beat the Utahs and UNLVs of the world. It's only a matter of time until those seasons translate into tournament success.

1. Mark Few, Gonzaga: Surprised? Of course you aren't. Mark Few is head and shoulders above the rest of the non-major-conference coaches in the way that Gonzaga isn't really a "mid-major"; he's classified as part of "the rest" only because Gonzaga can't call a major conference home. All the same, he's here, and by a mile. Few's ability to compete with the big boys in recruiting -- and coach his teams like Gladwellian underdogs when that's not the case -- has made Gonzaga far more than a perennial Cinderella. It's made them a national program. They're one of the big boys. You can buy the shorts to prove it.

(Did I screw something up? I probably screwed something up. Email me or follow me on Twitter to let me know exactly what.)

Related: Mid-Majors and Below, Coach Rank 2009