Right or Wrong? Indiana's Tom Allen Ranked 9th Among Big Ten Coaches

Indiana had a breakthrough season a year ago, and it was Tom Allen's first winning season in three years. He's ranked ninth in a poll on the best Big Ten coaches, and that seems about right.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Rankings are oftentimes subjective, and when it comes to ranking the coaches in the Big Ten from top to bottom, it becomes VERY subjective.

So when Dustin Schutte of Saturday Tradition took his swipe at it this weekend, he placed Indiana's Tom Allen in the No. 9 spot out of the 14 Big Ten coaches.

Allen has been at Indiana for three full years and one previous bowl game as a head coach and has posted an 18-20 overall record. He's just 9-18 overall in the Big Ten, however, though he is trending in the right direction, going 8-5 a year ago after back-to-back 5-7 seasons. Those eight wins were the most by an Indiana team in 26 years. 

Allen and Indiana also won the Old Oaken Bucket a year ago, winning 44-41 in double overtime against Purdue in West Lafayette. It was one of three road victories for Indiana in the Big Ten. 

Here's what Schutte said about Allen at No. 9:

"Last season really served as a boost for Allen. Indiana had its best season in nearly three decades, finishing 8-5, appearing in the Gator Bowl and being ranked in the Associated Press poll for the first time in 25 years. Allen has also assembled two of IU’s best recruiting classes in the program’s history. It’s hard to have that kind of success in Bloomington and Allen deserves plenty of credit for what he’s been able to do. Much like (Illinois')Lovie Smith, though, we’ll find out if Allen can find sustainability at IU.''

Here was Saturday Tradition's order:

1. James Franklin, Penn State
2. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin
3. Ryan Day, Ohio State
4. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
5. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
6. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
7. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
8. Jeff Brohm, Purdue
9. Tom Allen, Indiana
10. Scott Frost, Nebraska
11. Lovie Smith, Illinois
12. Mel Tucker, Michigan State
13. Greg Schiano, Rutgers
14. Mike Locksley, Maryland

What are your thoughts on the ranking? Please feel free to comment in the section below and his the FOLLOW button in the top right corner to get all of over great Indiana content at no charge.

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