The Memphis Tigers have began the 2026-27 season at 2-0, including an upset win over the No. 18 ranked Iowa State Cyclones. Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway’s future with the program has been a subject of conversation in recent seasons, but after the team’s win against Iowa State, the former NBA star was quick to remind the doubters that he has a proven track record with the Tigers, as per The Field of 68.

“Last year was an anomaly. To me that’s a one-off … my teams don’t play like that. I’ve done great in the past seven years of winning 20+ games a season with a schedule just like this. So it’s not my first time winning,” Hardaway said. “We’ve always won. Last year was the one year that we didn’t. I know it’s behind us, and I was looking forward to this season. But, the Ws are what we do here. It’s been in the history of Memphis, we win games like this. I’m just thankful to win another one.”

Memphis is now in the program’s ninth season with Penny Hardaway at the helm as head coach. And he’s right in the sense that the Tigers have never won fewer than 20 games, aside from last season, under his leadership since he took over in 2018.

Article Continues Below

The Tigers are coming off a disappointing year in which they finished 13-19 and only 8-10 in the American Conference standings. But prior to that, Memphis had posted its best regular season finish in Hardaway’s tenure at 29-6 and 16-2 in conference play.

However, Memphis has only reached the NCAA Tournament in three of his eight previous seasons, and they’ve never advanced past the round of 32 under his watch. The Tigers have another big matchup coming up against the No. 24 ranked Vanderbilt Commodores.