Curt Cignetti, other Big Ten football coaches dominate 2026 rankings

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Lincoln Riley used to be a top-tier college football head coach. His 2017-2020 run at Oklahoma is what a big-time coach should produce: four conference championships and New Year's Six bowl appearances, three College Football Playoff appearances, two Heisman Trophy winners, and one Heisman runner-up. Since then, the well has run dry for Riley, whom USA TODAY Sports ranked outside the top 15 among all college football coaches entering the 2026 season. In contrast to Riley's falling star, three Big Ten coaches have risen to the top five in USA TODAY's newest rankings.

The USA TODAY panel ranked Indiana's Curt Cignetti No. 1, writing that "What Cignetti did in transitioning James Madison from the Championship Subdivision to being in position to reach the College Football Playoff would be enough to earn a spot on this list. However, he's at No. 1 because of his insane success at Indiana. The Hoosiers are 27-2 and 17-1 in the Big Ten in his two seasons with a dominant run to the school's first national title. Cignetti is simply the closest thing college coaching has to a Nick Saban-like figure."

It's really hard to argue with Cignetti's place as the No. 1 coach in America right now. We can legitimately debate if a No. 1 coaching ranking should apply only to the past two seasons of college football, as opposed to a three, five, or eight-year window. That's where these rankings get very subjective. If a coach was elite five years ago but isn't doing great right now, how far should he drop? It can get very murky. However, no one — not a single soul — can question the reality that Curt Cignetti has been college football's best head coach over the past two seasons.

Ohio State's Ryan Day was No. 3, and Oregon's Dan Lanning was No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports rankings. There's an elite club of Big Ten coaches, and right now, Lincoln Riley isn't in it. He hasn't earned that status. It's up to him to change it.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Curt Cignetti, other Big Ten football coaches dominate 2026 rankings

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