College basketball odds: Jay Wright, second-best coach against spread in March
When FOX Bet set Villanova's futures for next year's men's basketball title at +1600, oddsmakers, hoops fans and bettors had no idea 2022's squad would look a lot different from past teams.
Jay Wright — the Wildcats' head coach for 21 seasons — announced his retirement on Wednesday, shocking the basketball world. Rosters always turn over, but no one was expecting this news. Soon after the announcement, Villanova's odds to win it all next year lengthened from +1600 to +2500 at FOX Bet.
Wright's name became synonymous with success at Villanova from all angles, including from a gambling perspective, where Jay-Nova was usually the right wager for bettors.
According to FOX Sports Research, Wright went 29-19 against the spread (ATS) and 34-14 straight up (SU) as Villanova's head coach in the NCAA Tournament. Also, when coach Wright's Wildcats were favorites in the tourney, his teams finished an impressive 21-13 ATS and 27-7 SU.
Wright will go down as the second-greatest coach of all-time against the spread in the NCAA Tournament (50 minimum NCAA Tournament games coached, since 1984), which is why sportsbooks might send Wright a nice retirement gift.
Wright's 58% tourney cover rate ranks second overall only to Syracuse's Jim Boeheim.
TOP 6 COACHES WITH THE HIGHEST COVER PERCENTAGE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Jim Boeheim: 60%
Jay Wright: 58%
Rick Pitino: 56%
Tom Izzo: 55%
Roy Williams: 53%
Bill Self: 53%
* Min. 50 Tournament Appearances Since 1984
Villanova's 2021 season, like most under Wright, was one for the books. The team finished with a 30-8 overall record, earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament as a 2-seed and made it to the Final Four where the Wildcats lost to eventual champions Kansas.
Of course, records against the spread and overall wins weren't the only highlights of his time at Nova. While leading one of the sport's most dominant teams over the last two decades, he was twice named Naismith College Coach of the Year, earned Big East Coach of the Year honors six times and received the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award in 2018.
But back to covering. Perhaps his most impressive feat — save, of course, the 2016 and 2018 national championship titles — was his ability to consistently eclipse the spread.
Since the 2004-05 season in games in which lines were available, Wright went 310-254-13 ATS in the regular and postseasons. So gamblers who took Navy Blue and White in that category during that span saw a 6.5% return on their investment. When his teams were favorites specifically, his squads went 258-201-7, giving gamblers an 8.9% ROI.
As Jay Wright retires from Villanova, he gallops into the sunset as one of college basketball's most accomplished head coaches. His straight-up 642-282 record ties him at 48th overall for most wins in Division I history.
Gamblers will have to wait until next season to see if successor Kyle Neptune can pick up right where Jay left off. In the meantime, one thing fans and bettors know for certain is that Wright undoubtedly cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats.
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