Big Ten WBB Tournament Preview: California vs. the field
The top-two seeds are heavy favorites to win this tournament. Can anyone stop the Bruins or Trojans?
We are now solidly into March, it is blizzarding here in Minnesota, and there is going to be postseason tournament basketball on my TV all damn day. I love that for me, quite frankly, even if my don’t-have-school-today-because-of-the-aforementioned-blizzard want to watch Barbie.
Here is this year’s full bracket, featuring 15 of the 18 teams in the Big Ten which is not how numbers work at all but alas.
There are three games today in the first round, all of which will be streaming on Peacock:
No. 12 Washington Huskies vs. No. 13 Minnesota Golden Gophers; 3:30 p.m. CT
No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. No. 15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights; 25 minutes after first game
No. 11 Iowa Hawkeyes vs. No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers; 25 minutes after second game
Because I am lame, I think that all three favorites will win in the opening round. Iowa just beat Wisconsin by 15 points and didn’t break too much of a sweat in doing so I don’t think this game will be all that much different. Unless a perimeter player (Lily Krahn???) goes off from beyond the arc the Hawkeyes should win by 15+ again.
Rutgers and BBK All-Big Ten First Teamer Destiny Adams even making the conference tournament is a surprise and it seems unlikely that they’ll shock the Huskers. While the Scarlet Knights only lost by seven in their regular season matchup with Nebraska, that was with star freshman Kiyomi McMiller scoring 33 points. In case you haven’t been following the ins and outs of Rutgers’ season…McMiller is no longer with the team due to murky disciplinary reasons. Alexis Markowski and Britt Prince will lead Nebraska to the next round.
The Huskies are on an absolute heater right now, entering the tournament winners of four in a row, including a victory over these very same Gophers by 10 points at The Barn. Elle Ladine is averaging 24.3 points over the last four games and is shooting a scorching 60% (15-of-25) from three. She’s struggling a bit with turnovers, so the Gophers would be wise to harass her early and often, but I don’t think it’ll matter with the way she’s shooting the rock.
Second Round (all games on BTN; games start at 11 a.m. CT)
No. 8 Oregon Ducks vs. No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers
No. 5 Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 12 Washington Huskies
No. 7 Illinois Fighting Illini vs. No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers
No. 6 Michigan State Spartans vs. No. 11 Iowa Hawkeyes
Wow, amazing, another round with zero upsets?!? That’s right, baby, we’re going all chalk in the first two rounds! Wait, technically Indiana beating Oregon is an upset by seed…but I’d imagine the Hoosiers will be favored in Vegas.
The Wolverines freshmen are going to shine on the big stage and dispatch the Huskies. Teri Moren will have IU ready to solidify their NCAA Tournament resume and I think Chloe Moore-McNeil has a big game. Kendall Bostic will win her matchup with Alexis Markowski as the Illini and Should’ve Been B1G Coach of the Year Shauna Green move on. A balanced Spartans attack on offense and a swarming defense featuring Nyla Hampton, Theryn Hallock, and Jocelyn Tate will keep Lucy Olsen under wraps as MSU bests Iowa.
Quarterfinals (all games on BTN; games start at 11 a.m. CT)
No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers vs. No. 1 Southern Cal Trojans
No. 5 Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 4 Maryland Terrapins
No. 7 Illinois Fighting Illini vs. No. 2 UCLA Bruins
No. 6 Michigan State Spartans vs. No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes
The top-four seeds finally enter the chat on Friday!
Brenda Frese’s Terps hit a bit of a lull in the middle of the season as their schedule featured a gauntlet of top-tier opponents. While they left that stretch, uh, scathed, Maryland is coming into the BTT on a four-game winning streak featuring a huge OT win over Ohio State on the last day of the regular season. Frese is a March Master and the lights will prove a bit too bright for the young Wolverines as Maryland moves on thanks to a dominant Saylor Poffenbarger game on the glass.
The regular season champion Trojans make quick work of the Hoosiers and move on to the semifinals while UCLA outlasts Illinois in a thriller. Robyn Fralick’s Spartans spring the first big upset of the tourney by blitzing the Buckeyes. Julia Ayrault, who hasn’t scored 20+ points in a game since Jan. 8, explodes for 25 in the MSU win.
Semifinals (games on BTN; 3 p.m. CT and 5:30 p.m. CT)
No. 4 Maryland Terrapins vs. No. 1 Southern Cal Trojans
No. 2 UCLA Bruins vs. No. 6 Michigan State Spartans
In another massive upset, the Terps catch the Trojans looking ahead to a rematch with intra-city rival UCLA and pull out a close win. Shyanne Sellers cements her status as one of the top Terps ever with a 21 point/12 assist double-double in the victory.
None of Grace VanSlooten, Ines Sotelo, Julia Ayrault, or even little-used 6-foot-5 freshman Mary Meng can slow down Lauren Betts as she leads the Bruins to the BTT finals in UCLA’s first year in the conference. Angela Dugalić has three blocks AND three steals to stymie MSU in the paint.
Finals (game on CBS; 3:30 p.m. CT)
No. 4 Maryland Terrapins vs. No. 2 UCLA Bruins
While they don’t get their revenge on USC, the Bruins do earn some hardware by beating Maryland in the BTT final and making it a clean sweep of trophies by the California teams this year. Timea Gardiner drains five three-pointers in the win and Kiki Rice dishes out nine assists.
This should be another excellent postseason for the Big Ten and, who knows, we might even see one of our squads hoist the national title in April. With something like a dozen teams potentially making the Big Dance eventually the overwhelming odds have to be in the conference’s favor…right?
I’ll see y’all online for the game!