2016 March Madnesss: Best Coaches in NCAA Tournament
Earlier this morning, I was digging through our historical archive and was surprised to see that Michigan’s John Beilein had been the most profitable head coach to bet on against the spread (ATS) during the NCAA Tournament. Although Beilein had success during his time at West Virginia and Michigan, he doesn’t have the same type of name recognition as Michigan State’s Tom Izzo or Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.
Michigan's John Beilein (13-4 ATS, +8.72 units) has the best NCAA Tournament record of any active coach.
— Sports Insights (@SportsInsights) March 15, 2016
While Beilein has been the most profitable coach for tournament bettors, Villanova’s Jay Wright (7-14 ATS) and Notre Dame’s Mike Brey (3-9 ATS) have been on the other side of the spectrum. Oklahoma’s Lon Krueger (4-8 ATS) has historically underperformed as well, which is particularly interesting given the Sooners performance against the spread this season.
Although 2-seed Oklahoma boasts a 25-7 record, they were only 12-18 ATS (-6.49 units) this season — the worst mark for any tournament team.
— Sports Insights (@SportsInsights) March 15, 2016
There will be twenty head coaches making their NCAA Tournament debut, while four coaches (Kevin Ollie, Cuonzo Martin, Andy Enfield and Bill Kennedy) will be putting their unblemished record at risk this week. The table below displays the NCAA Tournament ATS records for all 68 head coaches (ATS records go back to 2005 ONLY):
| COACH | School | WINS | LOSSES | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Calipari | Kentucky | 24 | 18 | 57.14% |
| Roy Williams | North Carolina | 17 | 14 | 54.84% |
| Tom Izzo | Michigan State | 17 | 14 | 54.84% |
| Sean Miller | Arizona | 16 | 8 | 66.67% |
| Bill Self | Kansas | 16 | 17 | 48.48% |
| Mike Krzyzewski | Duke | 15 | 14 | 51.72% |
| John Beilein | Michigan | 13 | 4 | 76.47% |
| Matt Painter | Purdue | 10 | 5 | 66.67% |
| Jim Boeheim | Syracuse | 10 | 10 | 50.00% |
| Bob Huggins | West Virginia | 9 | 6 | 60.00% |
| Mark Few | Gonzaga | 9 | 13 | 40.91% |
| Shaka Smart | Texas | 9 | 3 | 75.00% |
| Gregg Marshall | Wichita State | 9 | 5 | 64.29% |
| Chris Mack | Xavier | 8 | 2 | 80.00% |
| Jay Wright | Villanova | 7 | 14 | 33.33% |
| Kevin Ollie | Connecticut | 6 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Jamie Dixon | Pittsburgh | 6 | 12 | 33.33% |
| Dana Altman | Oregon | 6 | 2 | 75.00% |
| Scott Drew | Baylor | 6 | 7 | 46.15% |
| Mark Turgeon | Maryland | 6 | 6 | 50.00% |
| Frank Martin | South Carolina | 5 | 4 | 55.56% |
| Tony Bennett | Virginia | 5 | 6 | 45.45% |
| Archie Miller | Dayton | 5 | 2 | 71.43% |
| Mick Cronis | Cincinnati | 4 | 4 | 50.00% |
| Tubby Smith | Texas Tech | 4 | 4 | 50.00% |
| Fran McCaffery | Iowa | 4 | 4 | 50.00% |
| Ben Jacobson | Northern Iowa | 4 | 2 | 66.67% |
| Tom Crean | Indiana | 4 | 7 | 36.36% |
| Lon Krueger | Oklahoma | 4 | 8 | 33.33% |
| Kevin Stallings | Vanderbilt | 4 | 4 | 50.00% |
| Larry Krystkowiak | Utah | 3 | 2 | 60.00% |
| Mike Brey | Notre Dame | 3 | 9 | 25.00% |
| Fran Dunphy | Temple | 3 | 5 | 37.50% |
| Cuonzo Martin | California | 3 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Andy Enfield | USC | 3 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Frank Haith | Tulsa | 2 | 2 | 50.00% |
| Billy Kennedy | Texas A&M | 2 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Ed Cooley | Providence | 1 | 1 | 50.00% |
| Steve Prohm | Iowa State | 1 | 1 | 50.00% |
| Randy Rahe | Weber State | 1 | 1 | 50.00% |
| Stephen F. Austin | Brad Underwood | 1 | 2 | 33.33% |
| Wayne Tinkle | Oregon State | 1 | 2 | 33.33% |
| Tad Boyle | Colorado | 1 | 3 | 25.00% |
| Kermit Davis | Middle Tennessee | 0 | 1 | 0.00% |
| Phil Martelli | Saint Joseph's | 0 | 2 | 0.00% |
| Edward Joyner | Hampton | 0 | 1 | 0.00% |
| Tim Cluess | Iona | 0 | 2 | 0.00% |
| Scott Nagy | South Dakota State | 0 | 2 | 0.00% |
| Nick McDevitt | UNC Asheville | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Greg Herenda | Fairleigh Dckinson | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Roman Banks | Southern | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Kevin Keatts | UNC Wilmington | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Nate Oats | Buffalo | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Bill Carmody | Holy Cross | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Linc Darner | Wisconsin-Green Bay | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Dave Loos | Ausin Peay | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Eran Ganot | Hawaii | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Rodney Terry | Fresno State | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Joe Dooley | Florida Gulf Coast | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Steve Pikiell | Stony Brook | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Will Wade | VCU | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Kevin Willard | Seton Hall | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Chris Beard | Arkansas-Little Rock | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Greg Gard | Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Matt McCall | Chattanooga | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Rod Barnes | Cal State Bakersfield | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Chris Holtmann | Butler | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| James Jones | Yale | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Bettors should also be sure to visit our free college basketball odds page for the latest lines, injuries, public betting trends and more.
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David Solar is the Content Manager for Sports Insights and can be reached directly at David@SportsInsights.com
Dan
03/15/2016 at 9:37 pmMartelli’s stats are not correct. Are you including Dunphy’s record at Penn?
David Solar
03/16/2016 at 8:06 amOur records indicate that Martelli has gone 0-2 ATS since 2005. Dunphy’s record includes a 2-5 ATS record at Temple and 1-0 record at Penn.
Jimbo
03/16/2016 at 4:11 pmHow can a coach that hasn’t won a title have wins and no losses? They had to have lost at some point right? Am I missing something?
David Solar
03/18/2016 at 1:58 pmThat’s their record against the spread. They can still cover the spread without winning the game.