Ranking Big Ten Head Coaches After Niko Medved's First Season at Minnesota

The 2025-26 Big Ten men's basketball season officially ended on Sunday with Purdue winning this year's tournament championship in Chicago. It's a perfect time to rank all 18 head coaches in the conference and find out where Niko Medved slots in after his first year back at Minnesota.

Tier 1: Elite

1. Dusty May (Michigan)
2. Matt Painter (Purdue)
3. Tom Izzo (Michigan State)

Despite being in the conference for just two seasons, May has earned the top spot. The only other programs in the conference that would probably argue that their head coaches are better are Purdue and Michigan State, which is how I landed on this top three.

Tier 2: Great program fits

4. Brad Underwood (Illinois)
5. Fred Hoiberg (Nebraska)

Underwood and Hoiberg have both proven themselves at the college level at multiple different stops, and they seem like great fits at their current school. Underwood is lacking a Final Four run in Champaign, and Hoiberg probably still needs to pick up an NCAA Tournament win in Lincoln before being any higher on this list.

Tier 3: Proven veterans

6. Mick Cronin (UCLA)
7. Greg Gard (Wisconsin)
8. Dana Altman (Oregon)

Cronin and Altman both have Final Four appearances at their current schools, but the transition from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten hasn't been smooth. The Wisconsin fanbase seemingly has a different opinion on Gard every week. All three coaches have a proven track record at their current schools that is too much to overlook.

Tier 4: More with less

9. Niko Medved (Minnesota)
10. Ben McCollum (Iowa)
11. Chris Collins (Northwestern)

Minnesota objectively has some of the lowest resources in the conference, and six scholarship players suffered season-ending injuries in year one. It's hard not to be impressed with an 11th-place finish from Medved in year one, and he has already proven he can hang with some of the top coaches in the conference.

McCollum has a proven track record at his previous two stops, and Collins continues to stay competitive with some of the worst resources in the conference. All three coaches consistently outperform expectations.

Tier 5: Less with more

12. Eric Musselman (USC)
13. Darian DeVries (Indiana)
14. Buzz Williams (Maryland)

These are three coaches who were probably much higher on this list two years ago, but Musselman and DeVries have now missed back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. Indiana and USC are near the top of the conference in resources, so that's not acceptable. Williams had a very confusing year one at Maryland, so all three coaches will have pressure heading into 2026-27.

Tier 6: Unproven

15. Jake Diebler (Ohio State)
16. Steve Pikiell (Rutgers)
17. Danny Sprinkle (Washington)
18. Mike Rhoades (Penn State)

Diebler led Ohio State to the NCAA Tournament this season, but he still has a lot to prove at a program that has some of the best resources in the conference. Pikiell almost needs to reintroduce himself after two down years, while Sprinkle and Rhoads haven't gotten off to great starts at their current jobs.