Big Ten Coach ranking 1-14

[DefenseBB]

Similar to the PAC-12, the second best conference is the Big Ten. The commentary has Rank, Name, years as a Big Ten Coach, Big Ten overall/conference record embolden, career schools w/l record, # post-season tournaments, other division records/post-season. I also added a “trend” comment based on their last few years.

Elite-Must be among the top 4-5 coaches in the game today
None

Very Good
1. Brenda Frese-MD 19 yrs, 206-30, 109-13; 363-131, 17-NCAAT, 1 Title, 2 Final Fours, 1-WNIT (trend is flat)
2. C. Vivian Stringer-Rutgers 26 yrs, 395-168, 232-97 (RU & Iowa); 632-248; 28-NCAAT w/2 Runner-Up and 2 other Final Fours, 2-WNIT (trend is flat)
2. Lisa Bluder-Iowa 21 yrs, 436-232, 219-138; 188-105, 19-NCAAT, 5-WNIT; NAIA 169-36 (trend is flat)

Good
4. Teri Moren-Indiana 7 yrs, 148-80, 72-50; 69-57; 3-NCAAT, 4-WNIT; D2 130-73, 3-NCAAT (trend is up)
5. Kevin McGuff-OSU 8 yrs, 169-84, 91-45; 255-99; 10-NCAAT, 6-WNIT (trend is flat)
6. Kim Barnes Arico-Mich 9 yrs, 193-102, 85-64; 176-134; 8-NCAAT, 7-WNIT; D2/D3 94-72, 1 NCAAT (trend is flat)
7. Suzy Merchant-Mich State 14 yrs, 296-157, 144-93; 147-91; 11-NCAAT, 4-WNIT; D2 54-29, 11-NCAAT (trend is flat)
8. Joe McKeown-Northwestern 13 yrs, 223-186, 94-128; 509-174, 17 NCAAT, 7-WNIT (trend is flat)

Suspect
9. Amy Williams-Nebraska 5 yrs, 72-75, 39-48, 2-NCAAT, 4-WNIT; NAIA 97-65 (trend is up)
10. Carolyn Kieger-Penn St 2 yrs, 16-38, 7-30; 99-64; 3-NCAAT (trend is flat)
11. Lindsey Whalen-Minnesota 3 yrs, 45-39, 21-33; 1-WNIT (trend is flat)
12. Nancy Fahey-Illinois 4 yrs, 35-79, 6-64; D3 737-133, 29-NCAAT 5-Titles (trend is flat)
Unknown
13. Marisa Mosely-Wisconsin 0 yrs, 45-29 (trend is unknown)
14. Katie Gearlds-Purdue 0 yrs, NAIA 227-49 (trend is unknown)

Parsing the band ranking-I have a separate thread to go on about why Brenda is VERY GOOD but not ELITE. Under a similar vein, I also have CVS as VERY GOOD and a Hall of Famer just not ELITE in the handful of the ELITE 4-5 coaches coaching right now. She hasn’t made a Sweet 16 since 2009 and she hasn’t won a conference regular season title since 2006. She has not won any Conference Tournament titles-ever.

Many on this board may not really be aware of Lisa Bluder, who has quietly put up quite the resume, only being notice with Megan Gustafson a couple of years ago and now with Caitlin Clark. Lisa has talent coming in and 3 more years of Caitlin. She will be vying for #2 placement in this league as a perennial title contender along with Brenda.

The next tier has another relatively unknown coach in Terin Moren who steadily improved Indiana each year she’s been there. If she can keep the talent coming, she could bump up to the next tier.

The rest of the tier rankings follow the overall and conference records for the coaches. A couple of observations that while I am rooting for Nancy Fahey given her great history at D3 and the fact Illinois was completely devoid of any talent when she arrived, she hasn’t made many in-roads and could be in trouble.

Last, we have two “unknowns” for Big Ten with one being “known” in Marisa and one being a “legacy pick” at Purdue who never coached in D1. Marisa did well at BU but still never won a conference title nor made a post-season tournament in her 3 years and add in the fact this is the #2 conference this year, the road could be bumpy. Purdue made the easy/lazy choice in picking yet again another Boilermaker to head the program. Katie was great at an NAIA school but this P5 Top level hoop-Good luck you will need it.

 

[undersized]

KBA's trend is certainly up. Coming off their best season ever and have earned the highest preseason ranking ever in program history.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I think you slightly undervalue Joe Mckeown. I'm not hurting my brain trying to massage where I would put him or whether I consider him trending up, just feel he may be undervalued where you list him.

 

[undersized]

I think you slightly undervalue Joe Mckeown. I'm not hurting my brain trying to massage where I would put him or whether I consider him trending up, just feel he may be undervalued where you list him.

Yup, NW would have been a 2- or 3-seed in 2020 if not for COVID. I believe Kieger at Penn State is also undervalued here.

 

[Vowelguy]

Problem for CVS is that she is waaaaaay past her prime and every extra year she diminishes her status.

have made the NCAAs just 3 times in last 9 years

last sweet 16: 2009

 

[cancontent]

Yup, NW would have been a 2- or 3-seed in 2020 if not for COVID. I believe Kieger at Penn State is also undervalued here.

Very possible. She's had to deal with turnover with transfers and is now getting more of the players she's looking for. Interested to see how Penn State does this season.

 

[DefenseBB]

I think you slightly undervalue Joe Mckeown. I'm not hurting my brain trying to massage where I would put him or whether I consider him trending up, just feel he may be undervalued where you list him.

I had initially had Joe up higher within the "Good" category but frankly his Big 10 results, while good last year have been mediocre. Look at his conference record. He has to show sustained success across multiple classes of players to elevate to the next level. While he had GREAT success at GW, the simple fact is the in-roads at NW have taken quite a bit of time. Heck, he's not even in the Preseason Top 5 in the conference this year. I am rooting for him but for me, he is only a "Good" coach and not in that next category at all.