Heading into the major conference tournaments, let’s take a look at 5 teams led by very good coaches, who for whatever reason have significantly underperformed market expectations, in the process bludgeoning bettors by losing game after game against the pointspread.

Notice that Ernie Kent and Pat Knight aren’t on this list, as this list is made up of guys who are legitimately good coaches. These mentors are well-regarded in the basketball world, and deservedly so, but for various reasons their underachieving teams combine for a money-burning 41-80-3 (33.8%) against the spread.

1. John Thompson III, Georgetown, 8-16-1 Against The Spread (ATS): A young team that got off to a surprising start, the Hoyas are 8-16-1 against the spread, and are 3-14-1 most recently after starting 5-2 against the number.  Last week the Hoyas lost outright at St. John’s after leading 45-30 with less than 11 minutes, the Hoyas 7th straight up loss as a favorite.   Georgetown’s fast start, with wins over Memphis and UConn, masked the youth, which was exposed in a deep, experienced league.

2. Scott Drew, Baylor, 7-15 ATS.  Drew took over a decimated Baylor program in 2003 and did a phenomenal job building things from scratch, peaking with a NCAA bid last March.  But things have been different this year, and the Bears have lost 8 times when favored. BU’s defense, not a strength last year, continues to struggle, and the offense, which masked the defensive weaknesses last year, hasn’t kept up.  Drew has even been reduced to the “take their names of their jerseys” gimmick in an effort to get his team to commit to defense and play together.

3. Mike Brey, Notre Dame, 9-16 ATS.  The Irish have lost outright 5 times as a favorite.   Brey’s got a lot of excuses, mostly centering around the tough schedule, travel, TV games, etc. But the pointspread is the great equalizer, and the Irish are not meeting marketplace expectations.  Notre Dame’s defense has been the main problem, and for much of the season the Irish had the worst defensive efficiency of any team in the Top 100.

4. Mark Fox, Nevada, 10-16-1 ATS.  Fox has done fantastic work in recent years, but expectations as hammered out by the marketplace are not being met in Reno this season. Nevada has dropped 5 games when favored, and have been maddeningly inconsistent.  Last week the Wolf Pack followed up a humiliating loss to WAC basement dweller Fresno State with a big win over league leader Utah State. Nevada is shooting less than 30% from outside the arc, a big problem when the 3-pointer is such a big part of modern college basketball.  Nevada usually enjoys a strong home court edge, but is just 3-11 to the number at Lawlor Events Center this season.

5. Larry Eustachy, Southern Miss, 7-17-1 ATS. Eustachy hasn’t had the recent success that others on this list have had, but he brought an Iowa State team to the Elite 8 within the past decade and has bounced back from drinking himself out of Ames to establish respectability at a moribund Southern Miss program.  Returning 6 starters from a team with a winning record in Conference USA last season, the Golden Eagles were supposed to take a big step up.  Instead, they were on a 1-10 spread run before covering at +23 in a 16-point loss against a sleepy Memphis team last Saturday. Since Eustachy is making no excuses, foregoing a contract extension and giving money back to the university, we won’t make any for him either.

The fact that these coach’s are burning money doesn’t mean that they’ll continue to do so.  Maybe they’ll turn things around in their conference tournaments and reward those bettors supporting them at Vegas and online sportsbooks. But it is worth noting how even well regarded coaches can have underachieving years and struggle to turn things around.