Amari DeBerry from UConn to UMD. Looks like Brenda still has the juice. Do we think UMD can bounce back?
B1G WBB general discussion
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Amari DeBerry from UConn to UMD. Looks like Brenda still has the juice. Do we think UMD can bounce back?
Tough to say. Last year's team wasn't very good. They return two of their three best players, but also lost most of their other starters/rotation players. They did add a couple solid transfers, but there's very little roster cohesion. It's also beyond time to wonder about team culture given their huge number of transfers every single year.
Frese is a good coach, but at the moment I think they're closer to being an 8/9 seed in the NCAA Tournament again rather than a top 2 or 3 seed. We'll see.
Ohio State and Maryland might be very good next year- but they each have zero continuity within their program. Call me old-school, but I like Indiana and Iowa’s model much more!
I agree, watching these girls come in as freshmen and following them from year to year is part of the joy of being a fan
They're also in the running for Talia Von Oelhoffen and have the top rated recruiting class for 2024.
This type of stuff is what caused WBB not to be very interesting before same old teams every year loaded up with all top talent = snore fest!
2025 So Cal might turn out to be 2024 LSU… that’s why they play the game….
Next year should be interesting. On paper USC and UCLA appear to be the class of the Big Ten. That said, both have questions.
USC will have a ton of new faces. Last year there were off-season predictions that LSU would go undefeated and repeat as champions with their portal additions and that obviously didn't work out. For UCLA, Close has been there 13 years and hasn't really won much. She's made the Elite Eight once and never won the PAC 12 regular season or conference tournament. It's fair to ask if she can maximize her team's talent.
The second tier seems fairly large at the moment. Iowa, Indiana, Ohio State, Maryland, Nebraska, and even Illinois returned a lot, made some big portal additions, or both.
I think scheduling could be a big issue for how teams finish next year. With 18 conference games and 18 schools, teams will only play one opponent twice. How will the conference schedule that double-matchup? Will any teams play a disproportionate amount of Tier 1 and 2 teams at home vs. away?
USC will have a ton of new faces. Last year there were off-season predictions that LSU would go undefeated and repeat as champions with their portal additions and that obviously didn't work out. For UCLA, Close has been there 13 years and hasn't really won much. She's made the Elite Eight once and never won the PAC 12 regular season or conference tournament. It's fair to ask if she can maximize her team's talent.
The second tier seems fairly large at the moment. Iowa, Indiana, Ohio State, Maryland, Nebraska, and even Illinois returned a lot, made some big portal additions, or both.
I think scheduling could be a big issue for how teams finish next year. With 18 conference games and 18 schools, teams will only play one opponent twice. How will the conference schedule that double-matchup? Will any teams play a disproportionate amount of Tier 1 and 2 teams at home vs. away?
Agree completely with BR55. I have a new criteria for who I will be cheering for… how much is the school’s reliance on transfers? Filling a gap is one thing, buying a team is another! I hope high school recruits start factoring into their choice the prospect that a school with recruit “over you” with a transfer … looking at you LSU, USC, Maryland, Ohio State, just to name 4 ! ( Thinking Iowa will play Nebraska twice… )
Not sure how interesting it will be when you can pretty much pick the final 4 teams before the season even beings....this is the reason that most years nobody gives 2 shits about women's bball.
Abby is on On Iowa live (KCRG 9.2). Think it was 630-730 though I'm not sure if she's on for the entire hour. Anyone catch it?
The announcement today of the BIG MBB opponents highlights the challenge of scheduling on the WBB side of things. On the MBB side, UCLA and USC are paired, such that all of the existing 14 BIG teams will either play USC/UCLA both at home, or both on the road. The same goes for Oregon and Washington, on the MBB side.
If the WBB schedule follows the MBB approach, it will introduce great scheduling unfairness, IMO. With USC and UCLA being the top 2 pre-season favorites, the teams that draw USC/UCLA on the road will be at a significant disadvantage. Over the least 2 seasons, the home team won every game between the teams that finished in the top 3. This hurt Iowa both years because Iowa was the only top-3 team both years to play both of the other top-3 teams on the road.
My hope would be that USC and UCLA are split for scheduling, with USC being paired with Washington or Oregon, and vice versa for UCLA. That would still allow for 1 west coast road trip, without the unfairness of playing both USC and UCLA on the road. The fan bases of the legacy 14 BIG teams should also get the benefit of seeing at least one of the conference favorites on their home floors.
If the WBB schedule follows the MBB approach, it will introduce great scheduling unfairness, IMO. With USC and UCLA being the top 2 pre-season favorites, the teams that draw USC/UCLA on the road will be at a significant disadvantage. Over the least 2 seasons, the home team won every game between the teams that finished in the top 3. This hurt Iowa both years because Iowa was the only top-3 team both years to play both of the other top-3 teams on the road.
My hope would be that USC and UCLA are split for scheduling, with USC being paired with Washington or Oregon, and vice versa for UCLA. That would still allow for 1 west coast road trip, without the unfairness of playing both USC and UCLA on the road. The fan bases of the legacy 14 BIG teams should also get the benefit of seeing at least one of the conference favorites on their home floors.
I agree that it will be an issue, but unfortunately I don't see them changing it for WBB. Eugene and Seattle are so far from Los Angeles (850 and 1,100 miles respectively) that playing Washington/Oregon then UCLA/USC would mean three extremely long flights in a weekend. I think many coaches/ADs would be upset with that arrangement.
I suspect you're right, but hope you're not. Also, perhaps doesn't need to be all or nothing. Maybe Northwestern can play both USC and UCLA on the road, but OSU and Maryland can get one of USC/UCLA at home, the other on the road.
