March Madness betting will feature a lot of top coaches but some of the big names will not be there this year. Who are the best coaches in March Madness odds in the past 25 years? March Madness betting has seen 25 years of the 64 team tournament. Technically it is 65 but no one really cares about the play-in game. There have been a lot of great coaches during that time period. You have retired coaches like Bobby Knight and Dean Smith and current coaches like Roy Williams, Rick Pitino, Tom Izzo and Coach K. Two of the bigger names, Jim Calhoun and Roy Williams are not even going to be involved this season since Connecticut and North Carolina didn’t even make the big dance.
Let’s look at the records to determine the best coach for the NCAA Tournament. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has the best winning percentage at just over 77%. He has made it to 10 Final Fours as a head coach with Duke and won the title three times. He is the top head coach in the last 25 years and the Blue Devils are a serious contender to win this season in March Madness betting.
The coach with the second best winning percentage is Louisville’s Rick Pitino. His teams have won 76% of the time. He has made it to five Final Fours and has won a title. Louisville will make this year’s NCAA Tournament and they could be a surprise team in March Madness odds.
Dean Smith is retired but he is in third place with 75.5 % wins, four Final Fours and one title. Roy Williams is next at 75.3% with seven Final Fours and two titles. North Carolina didn’t even make this year’s tourney after winning it all last year. Tom Izzo of Michigan State is next at 73.8%. His teams have made it to five Final Fours and he has won a title. Jim Calhoun is next but his Huskies didn’t even make the tourney this year. Top-ranked Kansas has Bill Self as their head coach and his teams have won 70.6% of the time. Self has made it to one Final Four and won it all. Kentucky’s John Calipari is next with his teams winning 69% of the time. The problem for Calipari is that he has made two Final Fours and has no titles. Tubby Smith of Minnesota and the retired Nolan Richardson who was at Arkansas rounds out the top 10.