March Madness Handicapping Advice: Age of Coach a Factor

Selection Sunday has named the field for the 2022-23 NCAA Tournament. There will be all sorts of upset predictions, as well as which team will run the table and be crowned NCAA Basketball Champions.

Doc’s Sports offers college basketball expert picks for every game on our NCAA basketball predictions page.

It is certain you will hear about players, and you will hear about teams, and you will hear about coaches. What you probably won’t hear anything about is the coaches’ age. There are many angles regarding what team to put in your bracket, and even some ATS angles. One angle you won’t hear much about is how does the age of the coaches factor in.

Probably one of the most overlooked angles is the age of the coach. Chances are when your coach has been coaching college basketball for a significant period of time, that this isn’t his first dance. Can a the age of a coach actually forecast which team has the best chance to win straight up and play them in your bracket? Let’s see if we can provide some answers.

Over the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, the average age of all coaches has been 50.7 years old. This year it is right in line with that at 50.5. Let’s begin with the round of 64 games. We have seen in the last 10 years the average age of the losing coaches is lower than the average age of all coaches that made the tournament in 8 of them. The head coach that wins the first round has had an average age of 51.8, which is higher than the average age of all coaches in the tournament. This sets the stage for the tournament.

Average age of all NCAA Tournament Coaches: 50.7

Average age of winning first round coach is 51.8

Average age of the Sweet 16 coaches is 52.9

Average age of the Elite Eight coaches is 54.1

Average age of the Final Four coaches is 55.6

Average age of the Championship winner is 57.8

You can see, younger coaches lose a lot more frequently in NCAA Tournaments than older coaches, and here is a breakdown:

Coaches aged 49 or under are 254-308 SU (.452)

Coaches aged 60 and older are 183-115 SU .614 (includes 5 National Championships and 15 Final Fours).

Filling in your bracket with older coaches getting deeper into the tournament statistically makes sense. Selecting a young coach over an older coach for an upset is not the best place for you to pick as an upset game.

You can use this link to get the list of all coaches, and click the coach’s name and get the age of the coach and write them into your bracket. You may also want to play significantly older coaches as an underdog ATS for betting purposes.

I will get you started with a list of all NCAA Tournament teams with a coach aged 60 or higher (16)

Auburn

Gonzaga

Houston

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Miami, Fla.

St. Mary’s

San Diego St.

Tennessee

West Virginia

Iowa

Iona

Texas Southern

Louisiana

Michigan State

Best of Luck on all your NCAA Brackets and wagering endeavors for the 2022-23 NCAA Tournament.

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