It is going to take some getting used to, but it’s a new era of Big Ten basketball. Caitlin Clark is gone, along with Iowa’s dominance, and now teams from the Pac-12, including USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, are joining the conference.
Their impact will be significant and immediate. According to the Big Ten coaches’ poll, the Trojans are favored to win the conference, and right behind them are the Bruins. The conference’s top five based on the coaches’ expectations is:
- USC
- UCLA
- Ohio State
- Maryland
- Indiana
It’s unbelievable that the Big Ten is now the big 18; that seems like entirely too many teams crammed into a conference. But it’s a new era of collegiate basketball, and we’ll have to get used to it together. We’ve slotted all 18 teams into tiers, starting with the most likely to contend to the least:
Tier 1—Title contenders: USC, UCLA, Ohio State, Maryland
The Big Ten likely has about half a dozen teams that have a path of making noise during the regular season and conference tournament, but these four are the cream of the crop.
USC, ranked No. 3 is the AP top 25 preseason poll, is as hyped as possible with stars like sophomore star guard JuJu Watkins and Stanford transfer and senior forward Kiki Iriafen ready to lead the Trojans to a national title….
