Richard Pitino is your Big Ten Coach of the Year!
The change in fortune for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in just one season is the best surprise of the Big Ten this season. A year ago Pitino was dealing with the fallout from the Twitter video mess and facing significant fan heat for a historically bad season. Now? Minnesota has just earned their first Top 4 finish in the Big Ten in over a decade, set new records a variety of win categories (if you let the NCAA erase your memory), and completed the biggest turnaround in all of Division 1 basketball.