Los Angeles flexing its muscle as the center of Big Ten women’s basketball
Welcome to Big Ten country, where the county seat up and moved to Los Angeles.
UCLA and USC are running away from the pack in their inaugural Big Ten campaigns. And the gap is large. The rivals are winning conference games by an average 19 points — more than double their closest competition — and lead the standings by more than two games apiece.
When No. 1 UCLA (23-0, 11-0) travels across town to No. 6 USC (21-2, 11-1) on Thursday (10 p.m. ET, Peacock) for the first of two matchups remaining between the rivals, the Big Ten regular-season title will hang in the balance. USC, which won both contests a year ago, can even the standings with a win to set up a potential winner-take-all regular-season final at UCLA on March 1 (9 p.m. ET, Fox). UCLA, holding a slim 53-52 series lead, is en route to a perfect season, the first undefeated Big Ten conference record since Maryland charged into the conference in 2014-15 and went 18-0.
It was anticipated the two games between rivals and leading national player of the year contenders Lauren Betts and JuJu Watkins would determine the title. Yet, the way in which they’ve separated themselves from Maryland and the rest of the league is slightly unexpected.
Their only combined conference loss three-quarters through the schedule is USC’s misstep in Iowa against a squad invigorated by NCAA all-time scorer Caitlin Clark’s jersey retirement. The best of the 2000s Big Ten is simply left in their dust.
Consistent performers Ohio State (20-3, 9-3) and Maryland (19-5, 9-4) aren’t mathematically eliminated from the title, but would need two weeks loaded with upsets to climb the standings. UCLA and USC hold the tiebreakers. Illinois (19-5, 9-4), one of two teams yet to play USC or UCLA, could make up ground at three games back. Michigan State (18-5, 8-4), the other league that will make the trip West, is 3.5 games back.
The only major opponent standing in UCLA’s and USC’s way is each other, former Pac-12 foes that came into the Big Ten with their best rosters since the first decade of organized collegiate women’s basketball.
From Pac-12 to Big Ten
UCLA ascended to the Associated Press No. 1 ranking for the first time in program history when it upset powerhouse South Carolina in November. It has never won 30 games in a season, nor played in an NCAA Final Four. It did win the 1978 national championship under AIAW leadership before the NCAA took over as governor of women’s athletics. It is the only season UCLA, led by Ann Meyers, finished its conference schedule undefeated (8-0 WCAA).
USC, which peaked at No. 3 in the season’s opening weeks, hasn’t been this high in the poll since its 1980s run of success. The Trojans won back-to-back NCAA championships in 1983 and 1984 with Cheryl Miller, Cynthia Cooper and Paula and Pam McGee. Before last season, the Trojans hadn’t finished better than .700 since the early ’90s.
Stanford controlled the Pac-12 conference over the decades, winning its 27th regular-season title last season with UCLA and USC tying for second at 13-5, trailing the Cardinal by two games. UCLA won conference games by an average of 9.6 points and boasted a 12.2-point advantage per 100 possessions, both of which ranked second. USC won by 6.7 points on average and 9 points per 100 last season, both ranking fourth.
Those numbers have more than doubled in the Big Ten. UCLA ranks second in winning margin at 18.8 and first in points per 100 at 26.0. USC is the opposite, ranking first in winning margin at 19 and second in points per 100 at 23.8. As travel partners, the differences in their schedules are minimal. UCLA has already played Washington, who came over from the Pac-12 with Oregon as its travel partner, while USC travels to Seattle on Sunday. USC already played Iowa and Wisconsin, where UCLA heads for final road games Feb. 23 and 26, respectively.
The closest competitors in scoring differential are Michigan State (8.3 ppg) and Illinois (6.4 ppg), the final traveling party to take a trip to L.A. next week. They’re the last attempt for the returning Big Ten-ers to represent in the regular-season race. Then again, by the time they reboard the plane to the Midwest, the statistical difference between Los Angeles and the rest could grow larger.
Ohio State couldn’t compete well enough on the boards in their games against the Los Angeles programs (USC ranks first, followed by UCLA). Maryland went empty on too many late possessions shooting 14.3% from 3-point range in a tight January loss to USC. The Terps faced UCLA within a week of losing two of their three leading scorers, Bri McDaniel (ACL, out for season) and Shyanne Sellers (knee, returned earlier this month). Both West Coast teams put on block parties against the smaller Maryland lineup (USC ranks first, followed by UCLA).
UCLA, USC lead Big Ten’s Naismith honors
It’s in more than just the numbers where the Los Angeles tandem is proving its power.
Four of the five Big Ten players on the 30-member Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year midseason team are from UCLA or USC. UCLA’s Betts and Kiki Rice, and USC’s Watkins and Kiki Iriafen are joined by Ohio State junior forward Cotie McMahon. The SEC leads all conferences with 11 players, the Big 12 is next with six.
Five players from UCLA and USC earned Naismith positional short-list team honors, whereas the rest of the Big Ten has six. USC senior Rayah Marshall joined Betts as Lisa Leslie award finalists as the nation’s best center, setting up a tough matchup in the paint. No other Big Ten team had more than one player among the 50 players on five teams.
Betts and Watkins are leading contenders and likely finalists for the Naismith and Wooden Player of the Year awards. If either won, it would extend the Big Ten’s streak to three consecutive POY winners with Iowa’s Clark winning in 2023 and ’24
As the Big Ten regular-season title race relocates to Los Angeles, attention turns further down the road. Once the NCAA tournament bracket is set, conferences begin rooting harder for each other’s success — especially now that individual team success will financially benefit the conference collectively via newly instituted performance units.
The only time a team representing the Big Ten won the national championship was Purdue in 1999. Led by head coach Carolyn Peck, now an analyst with ESPN, and All-American guard Stephanie White, newly named Indiana Fever head coach, the Boilermakers are one of three teams to go undefeated in Big Ten play, along with 2014-15 Maryland and 1984-85 Ohio State. (Maryland won the 2006 NCAA championship while in the ACC, and Rutgers won the 1982 NAIA tournament as an independent.)
UCLA or USC could very well break that skid and bring a trophy home to an expanded Big Ten country.
