With the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington, the Big Ten is stronger than ever before. That’s across the board in all sports, too.
Those types of brands with those types of athletes and coaches has raised the bar for the Big Ten. That’s exciting, but it also means that the competition has ramped up.
As a result, ranking toward the top of the league in any regard is a challenge as well.
Look at On3’s recent list of the top 10 Big Ten coaches headed into the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season. Iowa’s Fran McCaffery didn’t crack On3’s top 10.
Ranking the top coaches in the Big Ten ahead of the 2024-25 season.https://t.co/ydsI2Pr5ng
— James Fletcher III (@jdfletch3) August 5, 2024
Instead, Fran McCaffery joins Indiana’s Mike Woodson, Maryland’s Kevin Willard, Minnesota’s Ben Johnson, Ohio State‘s Jake Diebler, Penn State‘s Mike Rhoades, Rutgers‘ Steve Pickiell and Washington‘s Danny Sprinkle among the list of head coaches attempting to work their way into the top 10.
According to On3’s James Fletcher III, the list was compiled using historical markers, recent records and recruiting success.
Fletcher ranks Purdue’s Matt Painter atop the Big Ten. After Painter, the top five features Illinois’ Brad Underwood at No. 2, Michigan State‘s Tom Izzo at No. 3, USC‘s Eric Musselman at No. 4 and UCLA‘s Mick Cronin at No. 5.
The rest of the top 10 looks like this: Oregon‘s Dana Altman is No. 6, Michigan‘s Dusty May is No. 7, Northwestern’s Chris Collins is No. 8, Nebraska‘s Fred Hoiberg is No. 9 and Wisconsin‘s Greg Gard is No. 10.
It probably doesn’t help McCaffery’s case that Iowa is coming off a 19-15 (10-10 Big Ten) finish that saw the Hawkeyes miss out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2017-18 college basketball season.
Still, McCaffery is the winningest coach in Iowa history, so to have him outside the league’s top 10 coaches feels a little crazy. A pair of coaches on the list—USC’s Eric Musselman and Michigan’s Dusty May—had a ton of success at Arkansas and FAU, but they are yet to prove they can win in the Big Ten.
McCaffery’s all-time mark at Iowa is 280-191 (136-128 Big Ten) and includes seven NCAA Tournament berths. Of course, the big knock is the inability to get Iowa into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa hasn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 under McCaffery and the program hasn’t since 1999.
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