Top Coaches to Watch in 2026 March Madness Tournament
With staying power comes notoriety, giving some college basketball coaches more celebrity than their players in the modern era. March rolls around each year and the familiar faces on the sidelines can be a helpful index for fans and bettors looking to study up before the Big Dance.
Legends like Mike Krzyzewski (the all-time leader with 101 tournament wins), Jim Boehim, Roy Williams, and Jim Calhoun have moved on, but some of their contemporaries are still at their posts. Michigan State’s Tom Izzo holds the longest active streak with 28 consecutive appearances, followed closely by Gonzaga’s Mark Few, who has made it in all 27 years since taking over in 2000, and Bill Self is coaching in his 27th tournament for Kansas.
Veterans John Calipari (Arkansas), Rick Pitino (St. John’s), Sean Miller (Texas), and Buzz Williams (Maryland) are at new schools. Rising coaches at top programs include Jon Scheyer (Duke), Dusty May (Michigan), and Jai Lucas (Miami).
And arguably the biggest personality in the game is chesty UConn coach Dan Hurley, who won consecutive national titles in 2023 and 2024 and regularly touts himself as “the best coach in the game.” Hurley and several other elite and notable coaches, including Pitino, Izzo, Self, Jon Scheyer (Duke), and Mick Cronin (UCLA) have all landed in the loaded East Regional to create some intriguing matchups.
Below, we go through some of the top coaches to watch during March Madness with projections on how their programs might perform in the tournament.
Best 2026 March Madness Coaches to Watch
Dan Hurley, UConn
UConn to Reach Final Four:
It took a few years for Hurley to return the Huskies to national powerhouse status. He took over in 2018 and earned bids with first-round exits in 2021 and 2022, then went on two historic runs with a school record 37 wins and eight straight March Madness wins by double digits to cap the 2023-24 season. He is 15-5 overall in NCAA Tournament play and has covered the spread in 14 straight games. Clearly, Hurley is capable of leading UConn from its position as the No. 2 seed in the East Region to the Final Four and beyond.
Rick Pitino, Saint John’s
Pitino brings a checkered past to a post at St. John’s under the spotlight in New York City. The 73-year-old is the only coach to take six different programs to the Big Dance and he’s taken three (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to the Final Four. Recruiting violations marred his exit from Louisville, but he has landed on his feet with a 78-24 record and consecutive Big East regular season titles, plus the Big East Tournament Championship this March.
With a 55-22 record in the NCAA Tournament, Pitino holds the second-best percentage among active coaches. In his second year with St. John’s he earned a No. 2 seed last year, but went down in the second-round of the tournament to John Calipari’s No. 10 Arkansas squad. The Red Storm players left over from that team are experienced and motivated to go further and Calipari has been riding them hard, but the Big East was down this year so they only grabbed the No. 5 seed in a region with top overall seed Duke, creating a hard road to the Final Four.
Saint John’s to Reach Final Four:
John Calipari, Arkansas
Like Pitino, Calipari had a long run as a high-profile, highly-paid coach at Kentucky. He left for Arkansas ahead of last season to become the second-highest paid coach in the nation and the Razorbacks have enjoyed dividends so far with Player of the Year candidate Darius Acuff Jr. leading the program to the SEC title this past week.
Calipari has six Final Four appearances under his belt, although two were vacated by minor rules violations. His 59 tournament wins are the most among active coaches and he led Kentucky to a title in 2012. While Calipari is best known for grooming “one-and-done” superstars for the NBA with good college careers, he’s been excellent in a tournament format with 16 conference championships. Plus he has the biggest prerequisite for winning March: Talented guards. Yet the Razorbacks could run into a buzzsaw in the Sweet 16 in the form of No. 1 Arizona (32-2), the hottest pick to win it all this year.
Arkansas to Reach Final Four:
Bill Self, Kansas
Just one more veteran coach with recruiting violations to mention here, and he happens to be the highest-paid coach in the nation. Self had wins vacated and Kansas University was on probation for three years due to a 2017 federal corruption case involving Adidas, but in the modern NIL era, his past is no longer a factor and he’s recruited potential No. 1 NBA draft pick Darryn Peterson. Team chemistry has been an issue this year with Peterson clearly looking ahead to his NBA career and the Jayhawks seem unlikely to make a deep run in a loaded bracket.
Self led KU to four Final Four appearances and two national titles from 2008-2022, but the Jayhawks have struggled with three exits in the first or second round over the past three seasons after the scandal broke. Coming off a blowout loss to Houston in the Big 12 tournament, the Jayhawks will look to make a run from the No. 4 seed in the East Region. The program has been somewhat feast-or-famine under Self, who is 57-24 overall in the tournament and is one of eight coaches to win multiple titles since the field expanded in 1985.
Kansas to Reach Final Four:
Dusty May, Michigan
Leading Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023 put May on the map and Michigan hired him to a five-year contract two seasons later. His 27-10 record last year is the winningest start among Michigan’s 18 head coaches. May has the Wolverines humming in his second year at the helm with the third-best point differential (+18.4) and top-rated defense in the NCAA to earn the top seed in the Midwest Region.
Michigan was upset by No. 7 Purdue in the Big Ten Championship after surviving close tests from Wisconsin and Ohio State. Star forward Yaxel Lendeborg suffered a low-ankle sprain but is expected to play in the opener and star guard L.J. Cason (ACL) is out for the year. Justin Joyner, one of May’s top assistants, has been tabbed as the next coach at Oregon State, showcasing the depth of his staff. May was himself an assistant from 2015-18 at Florida where he cut his teeth during some deep runs with a power program. While Michigan has had a ton of success in the regular season, I would lean towards the +104 odds offered for the Wolverines to miss the Final Four.
Michigan to Reach Final Four:
Matt Painter, Purdue
Painter has been very consistent over the past decade while leading Purdue to 10 straight NCAA Tournament bids. The Boilermakers notably lost to a No. 16 seed in the first round in 2023, but bounced back with a deep run to the national championship the next year. They lost to No. 1 seed Houston last year and have earned the No. 2 seed in the West Region after winning the Big Ten title.
A great strength for Purdue has been Painter’s ability to develop players, rather than sell out for top recruits. The Boilermakers are 24-16 overall in the tournament under Painter with six trips to the Sweet 16 over their last eight appearances, so don’t let the big upset fool you, Painter is consistent.
Purdue to Reach Final Four:
Tom Izzo, Michigan State
At last we come to “Mr. March.” Not only has Izzo made 28 consecutive trips to the Big Dance, his 17 upset wins as a lower seed are the most ever, helping him make 16 Sweet 16 trips, 10 Elite 8 appearances, 8 Final Fours, and win it all in 2000. He is 24-9 in the second round, so brackets often mark “Michigan State” in the regional semifinals in pen.
Izzo’s defensive system emphasizes on-ball pressure with close man-to-man coverage. The Spartans are typically among the top rebounding programs in the nation and are in fact sporting the top defensive rebounding rate (79.7%) this season, along with the third-best assist to field goal ratio, which are credits to their coaching staff. Michigan State went 4-4 against ranked opponents this season and dominated with a 15-0 mark as home favorites, but Izzo should have his players ready to perform on a neutral court.
Michigan State to Reach Final Four:
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
After a solid run at Oklahoma, Sampson has quickly built a powerhouse at Houston. The Cougars haven’t lost in the first two rounds since 2021 under his guidance, with three Final Four trips and a National Championship appearance last year. Sampson is 31-21 overall in the tournament and at 70 years old, he could become the oldest coach to win a national title this year if the Cougars can make another run as the No. 2 seed in the South Region. Houston is one of the most disciplined teams in the nation and the Cougars could navigate the South Region, but aren’t necessarily a great bet to win it all.
Houston to Reach Final Four:
Mark Few, Gonzaga
With 27 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, Few has taken Gonzaga to the Big Dance every year since he was hired in 2000, and he could someday surpass Tom Izzo as the coach with the longest streak. His Bulldogs are a perennial power from the West Coast Conference with six Elite Eight appearances under his guidance and National Championship losses in 2017 and 2021. The 2017 Coach of the Year has never won fewer than 23 games in a season and holds a 44-25 overall record in the NCAA Tournament. Few has coached for the U.S. Men’s National Team and is the third-fastest coach in history to win 600 games.
The No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region, Gonzaga hopes to get star forward Braden Huff (knee) back in time for the Sweet 16. It wouldn’t be surprising if they get knocked off before then by BYU or Texas.
Gonzaga to Reach Final Four:
