Many eyes will be on this upcoming season in college basketball for various reasons and the wait is almost over. In preparation, we’ve undergone our yearly task of ranking every D1 program’s head coach, though it’s a bit different this time around. These individual pieces present that information one conference at a time, though including each coach’s national rank, not their standing in that conference.
There’s no question that the Big Ten has fantastic coaching talent, including two of the very best in the business today. The league also has two interim head coaches surprisingly thrust into their roles, though one of those coaches has already lost the interim title. Most of these names are widely known and a few are young coaches on the rise; let’s get right into the Big Ten coaches.
212. Tony Stubblefield (Oregon) (Last year: N/A)
Overall record: 30-66
The sudden retirement of Dana Altman thrust Stubblefield into this role, though it’s far from his first experience. A longtime collegiate assistant, he was previously interim head coach at New Mexico State and had 13 years as an assistant at Oregon. In between two stints, Stubblefield had a less than ideal run with DePaul, failing to make headway before being fired in January 2024. He’s the new interim head coach of the Ducks and does have significant experience on this staff.
124. Mike Boynton Jr. (Michigan) (Last year: N/A)
Overall record: 119-109
Another expected coaching move thrusts Boynton back into the spotlight after winning a national title on the Michigan bench last year. The former South Carolina point guard spent more than a decade as an assistant coach before succeeding Brad Underwood at Oklahoma State back in 2017. His 7 years with the Cowboys involved just a single trip to the NCAA Tournament. Boynton joined Dusty May’s staff soon after, was a big part of that title run, and now takes over the program with hopes that his second head coaching stint is more productive.
118. Jake Diebler (Ohio State) (Last year: 141)
Overall record: 46-31
Diebler played collegiately at Valparaiso under Homer Drew and was an assistant for Bryce Drew both there and at Vanderbilt early in his coaching career. After things didn’t work out in the SEC, he joined Chris Holtmann’s staff back at Ohio State in 2019 and would become interim head coach nearly five years later. After remarkable early work, the Buckeyes struggled in his first full season before clawing their back into the Big Dance this past March.
100. Mike Rhoades (Penn State) (Last year: 101)
Overall record: 220-165
During his first head coaching job, Rhoades won a ton of games at the D2 level with Randolph-Macon before joining Shaka Smart’s first staff at VCU. Two years later Rhoades helped push the Rams to that crazy Final Four and got his D1 head coaching career started a few years later. Rhoades had three decent years at Rice and then took VCU to three NCAA Tournaments as their head coach, though progress has been slower in the Big Ten. With Penn State he’s just 44-52, including a last place finish this past season.
80. Danny Sprinkle (Washington) (Last year: 67)
Overall record: 138-85
These recent years have been quite the leap for Sprinkle, a former Montana State player and assistant who got his head coaching career started in a big way at his alma mater. After nearly two decades as a D1 assistant, he took the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament in both 2022 and 2023 before repeating the feat at Utah State the following season. After just one season there, Sprinkle took the Washington opening but his two years in the Big Ten have produced a last-place finish and then a 16-17 campaign.
73. Niko Medved (Minnesota) (Last year: 62)
Overall record: 237-191
A Minnesota grad entering year two at his alma mater, Medved spent 14 years as a D1 assistant and has strangely enough become head coach at all of those schools. His head coaching journey started with a turnaround at Furman before one solid year at Drake before jumping to Colorado State. Medved’s best work came with the Rams, with 143 wins in 7 years that include a first-round win in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. He was back to Minnesota shortly after but his Golden Gophers were just 15-18 in year one.
70. Steve Pikiell (Rutgers) (Last year: 76)
Overall record: 353-316
A collegiate head coach for more than two decades, Pikiell did the unthinkable by turning the Scarlet Knights into a contender. A former UConn point guard, his first experience was leading Stony Brook for 11 years, including a trip to the Big Dance and a number of America East titles. Pikiell landed at Rutgers in 2016 and turned things around with a few trips to the Tourney and a first-round win back in 2021. The Scarlet Knights have unfortunately struggled more in recent years, though this year’s 14th place finish in the Big Ten was actually better than expected.
63. Chris Collins (Northwestern) (Last year: 63)
Overall record: 209-209
Another coach doing big things at an underachieving program, Collins is responsible for every trip to the NCAA Tournament in Northwestern program history. Before his arrival in Evanston, he was a guard and longtime assistant at Duke, winning a pair of national titles on the Blue Devils bench. Since 2013 he’s been entrenched at Northwestern and has three NCAA Tournament appearances and three wins in that event, though his Wildcats have taken a step back across the last two seasons.
43. Fred Hoiberg (Nebraska) (Last year: 72)
Overall record: 227-171
After a notable playing career that included starring at Iowa State and a decade in the NBA, Hoiberg was an NBA executive before taking over at his alma mater. He won 115 games in five years and led the Cyclones to four NCAA Tournaments before being lured away by the Chicago Bulls. Hoiberg has been doing very solid work back in the college game since Nebraska hired him in 2019. After a slow start, the Cornhuskers have been in phenomenal shape, winning the College Basketball Crown in 2025 before a Sweet Sixteen run this past year.
38. Buzz Williams (Maryland) (Last year: 30)
Overall record: 385-249
Williams has certainly bounced around time and time again in his long coaching career. The Texas native got an early taste of head coaching at New Orleans but has since had stints with Marquette, Virginia Tech, and Texas A&M, notably taking the Golden Eagles to an Elite Eight and the Hokies to a Sweet Sixteen. Williams bounced again, this time landing at Maryland last offseason, though the initial results were disappointing. His Terrapins won just 12 games and finished in 17th place in the Big Ten.
35. Darian DeVries (Indiana) (Last year: 40)
Overall record: 187-82
Much of DeVries’ early work came in the MVC but he’s hoping to take the Big Ten by storm in the coming years. A player at Northern Iowa, he spent two decades on staff at Creighton before getting his head coaching shot leading Drake. DeVries was fantastic across 6 years with the Bulldogs and even won an NCAA Tournament game during one of his three trips. He then led West Virginia to 19 wins in what would be his only season with the Mountaineers as he was lured last offseason to Indiana. His Hoosiers had a mediocre first year with an 18-14 mark.
31. Greg Gard (Wisconsin) (Last year: 33)
Overall record: 237-128
A lifer of basketball in the state of Wisconsin, Gard coached under the great Bo Ryan for more than two decades at Wisconsin-Platteville, Milwaukee, and Wisconsin. Gard was a significant part of the Badgers’ success and two trips to the Final Four before taking over as head coach in December 2015. After Sweet Sixteen runs in each of his first two seasons, he’s struggled breaking through with the Badgers even as the program has won a pair of Big Ten titles. Wisconsin was upset in the first round of the Big Dance once again last season.
22. Eric Musselman (USC) (Last year: 21)
Overall record: 256-125
Once considered one of the sport’s best recruiter, Musselman has been coaching basketball at many levels across his long career, with head coaching work in the NBA, CBA, and G-League. The former head coach of the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings won a boatload of regular season and postseason games with Nevada and Arkansas in his first two college gigs before taking over USC in 2024. He hasn’t had that same breakthrough with twin 12th place finishes in the Big Ten with the Trojans after two Elite Eight’s with the Razorbacks.
21. Ben McCollum (Iowa) (Last year: 46)
Overall record: 55-17
Even with just two years of D1 head coaching under his belt, you could easily argue that McCollum should be even higher in these rankings. He took his alma mater Northwest Missouri State to four D2 national championships before finally making the jump to D1 in 2024. His lone season at Drake became 31 wins and an upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. After making the quick move to Iowa, McCollum led the Hawkeyes on a magical run to the Elite Eight in his first season even after a 9th place finish in league play.
16. Mick Cronin (UCLA) (Last year: 13)
Overall record: 527-247
After early work aiding Bob Huggins at Cincinnati and Rick Pitino at Louisville, Cronin got his first shot at Murray State and took the Racers dancing twice. During a 13-year stint as Cincinnati’s head coach, he took the Bearcats to nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments before heading to UCLA in 2019. With the Bruins, Cronin engineered that crazy run to the Final Four in 2021, has made two more trips to the Sweet Sixteen and has done an alright job at keeping the Bruins in contention as new members of the Big Ten.
14. Brad Underwood (Illinois) (Last year: 17)
Overall record: 302-137
A winner throughout his career, Underwood won a ton of games at the junior college level, assisted on some great teams, and took Stephen F. Austin to great heights in his first D1 gig. He took the Lumberjacks to 89 wins in three seasons, including two Tourney upsets, before getting Oklahoma State to the Big Dance in what would be his only season with the Cowboys. Underwood jumped at a big opportunity with Illinois in 2017 and has been outstanding, with Big Ten titles, star players, and a Final Four run this part April.
8. Matt Painter (Purdue) (Last year: 7)
Overall record: 526-229
One of the Big Ten’s most influential figures since the turn of the century, Painter played for Gene Keady with the Boilermakers in the early 90’s and succeeded him as Purdue’s head coach in 2005. Two decades in West Lafayette have seen a trip to the national title game in 2024, a slew of Big Ten titles, and a boatload of highly-regarded players coming through his system. Painter’s recent work has been especially impressive, winning the Big Ten Tournament and getting this team to the Elite Eight this past season.
5. Tom Izzo (Michigan State) (Last year: 5)
Overall record: 764-310
While he didn’t become head coach until 1995, Izzo arrived at Michigan State back in 1983 and has been an icon in East Lansing for decades. He’s most revered for leading the Spartans to the national championship in 2000 and is responsible for eight Final Fours, 11 Big Ten regular season titles, and unending success. He’s taken Michigan State to 28 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a Sweet Sixteen run most recently.
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