Big Ten Basketball Head Coach Rankings: Is Brad Underwood Top Three?

In the aftermath of Dusty May’s departure from Michigan, the door is cracked open in the Big Ten. After the two-year turnaround May engineered with the Wolverines – which culminated in the 2026 national title – the prevailing consensus was that the league would run through Ann Arbor for quite some time.

Instead, May is off to the Dallas Mavericks, and the Big Ten is again anybody’s league. That said, there are a handful of program leaders in the conference who are operating at a different level than their peers. Here are our top five head coaches in the Big Ten:

Top Big Ten basketball head coaches

No. 5: Ben McCollum, Iowa

The first year of the Ben McCollum era in Iowa City was something to behold. Although Iowa went a dead-even 10-10 in Big Ten play, the Hawkeyes were one of the most competitive teams in the league, losing just three games by double digits – almost entirely thanks to lead guard Bennett Stirtz – and McCollum.

The Iowa head man, who is both a culture-builder and an X’s-and-O’s savant, elevates the floor for his squads astronomically. Meanwhile, the ceiling – which many considered low a year ago – will always be higher than it may appear on paper, evident in the Hawkeyes’ dance into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season.

No. 4: Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska

Nebraska had never won an NCAA Tournament game before Fred Hoiberg took over in Lincoln. And under his guidance last season, the Cornhuskers finally broke through and won not just one but two in the Big Dance.

His unique defensive scheme – which forces everything baseline and into multiple bodies – suffocates opponents, leading to extremely difficult at-the-rim twos and a low clip from deep (Nebraska finished the year No. 8 in defensive efficiency a season ago, per KenPom).

There is no questioning Hoiberg’s basketball mind. But hoops IQ isn’t the only skill set required of a Division I coach. Can he do enough from a recruiting standpoint to build on the Huskers' upward trend and ensure 2025-26 wasn’t an anomaly?

No. 3: Brad Underwood, Illinois

Circling back to that exact point – college basketball head coaches must wear many hats – it's important to consider the body of work as a whole. For example, where Hoiberg may have a leg up on Brad Underwood from an X’s-and-O’s standpoint, the Underwood leaves Hoiberg in the dust in terms of talent evaluation and recruiting.

In fact, there may not be a better coach in the country in that realm. Underwood finds talent – and lands it. And he doesn’t seek a random combination of the best players available before figuring out the fit later. Increasingly, the pieces of the puzzle connect to form a masterpiece – which is why the Illini had the No. 1 offense in the nation most of last season.

Underwood has been superb at putting his players in positions to thrive offensively. He deploys a free-flowing scheme resembling that of an NBA offense, consistently wooing players gifted enough to flourish in said system to Champaign. Defensively, though, Illinois has left a bit to be desired. If Underwood leaps over that hurdle in the near future, the Illini could become mainstays in the late rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

No. 2: Matt Painter, Purdue

The term “player’s coach” gets tossed around pretty easily nowadays. (Any coach that avoids Bobby Knight levels of militance seems to qualify.) But nothing better quantifies a coach that players rally behind than roster retention in the transfer-portal era. And Matt Painter, unlike practically every other coach in the country, has made a habit of routinely bringing back his eligible players.

Painter is the full package: He is both an exceptional talent evaluator and an impressive developer. And as previously mentioned, Painter ensures those guys actually stick around in West Lafayette.

But that’s all personnel. On the court, Painter is just as admirable. How about playing through a 7-footer in this era of college hoops (even if two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey wasn’t just any 7-footer) and having a top-five offense in the nation, then two years later operating through 5-foot-10 lead guard Braden Smith and boasting the No. 1 offense in the country?

Sure, Edey and Smith gave Painter one heck of a leg up. But let’s remember that both were under-recruited three-star prospects coming out of high school. And did we forget to mention it has been more than a decade since Purdue earned anything lower than a four seed in the NCAA Tournament? Painter may not have won a national title – yet, mind you – but then again, no one on this list has. Well, except for …

No. 1: Tom Izzo, Michigan State

We know: It has been 26 long years since Izzo locked down that title. In the meantime, he has only accumulated six Final Four appearances, bringing his career total to eight. No biggie. For those counting at home, Izzo has (checks notes) four times as many Final Four appearances as the other coaches included on this list … combined.

At the end of the day, it comes down to wins and losses. And there isn’t a coach in our top five who has delivered more of the former – and in bigger moments – than Izzo. He is a severely underrated recruiter, a defensive genius and a motivational mastermind.

The “inspirational” factor of coaching may be less valued than it ever has been, but Izzo’s ability to consistently spark his troops has undoubtedly played an influential role in his teams being one of the top defensive and rebounding squads on a year-to-year basis.

Offense may always remain a relative question mark – the Spartans seemingly needs a star lead guard to simply stay afloat on that end – but Izzo makes up for it elsewhere.

A true master of his craft, he controls every controllable – ranging from X’s and O’s to working the referees. And the most impressive part: Izzo hasn’t just had a great career; he’s still very much in the midst of it.

Add us as a preferred source on Google