Sporting News ranks the FBS coaches from 1-130 before every college football season, and for the fourth consecutive year, Nick Saban is at the top.

That might stir some debates knowing Clemson coach Dabo Swinney led the Tigers to two national championships in three years — including last year’s 44-16 blowout against Saban and the Crimson Tide. Those two are the only active coaches with a national title at their current school heading into 2019. Jimbo Fisher is the most recent active coach to win a national title other than Saban and Swinney, though Mack Brown and Les Miles' return to the college game gives college football five active national title-winning coaches in 2019.

MORE TOP 25: QBs | RBs

How does SN rank those coaches? How did we rank the entire 130-coach field? We look at career accomplishments, taking into account what they've achieved in recent years. When it got tight, we picked the coach we'd take in a head-to-head matchup. It's not a perfect science, but it's our science and we’re sticking to it.

The Big Ten led the way with seven coaches in our top 25, followed by the SEC with six. The Big 12 has five top-25 coaches. The Pac-12 had four, and the ACC has two.

Here are Sporting News' top coach rankings ahead of 2019: