Friday, November 8, 2019 // TIPOFF 2019
7B 

Jack Kingsley, Brendan Roose 
and Kent Schwartz contributed to 
this story.
Michigan finished last season 
fourth in the Big Ten and with a 
good chunk of teams competing 
for real estate at the top of the 
conference standings, life won’t 
be getting any easier. Here’s 
everything you need to know 
about the Big Ten’s top teams this 
year. 
No. 4 Maryland
After winning the Big Ten 
regular season title last year, the 
Big Ten is Maryland’s to lose. The 
Terrapins are ranked in the top 
five in both the AP and Coaches 
preseason polls, in large part due 
to the return of all five starters, 
including Kaila Charles. Charles 
averaged 17 points per game last 
season and was named both a 
preseason All-American and the 

preseason Big Ten Player of the 
Year. 
Maryland also brings in the 
third-ranked freshman class in 
the nation, led by seventh-ranked 
recruit Ashley Owusu, which 
gives the Terrapins much more 
depth than in prior seasons. The 
biggest challenge for them will be 
whether or not their uber-talented 
freshmen can adjust to secondary 
roles, but coach Brenda Frese is 
confident that their difficult non-
conference schedule will help 
them figure out how to balance 
everyone’s minutes. 
The Big Ten has many teams 
with 
NCAA 
Tournament 
aspirations 
this 
season, 
but 
Maryland is a step above the rest 
and a legitimate threat to win the 
national title.
No. 17 Michigan State
After their 2018-19 campaign 
ended with a blowout loss to Notre 
Dame in the second round of the 
NCAA Tournament, the Spartans 
enter this season ranked 17th in 

the preseason AP Poll. 13th-year 
coach Suzy Merchant may have 
her most talented roster in years, 
with 
four 
returning 
starters, 
including guards Shay Colley, 
Taryn 
McCutcheon 
and 
Nia 
Clouden, all of whom earned All-
Big Ten honors last season. 
Michigan State will be tested 
early in non-conference play, when 
they travel to South Bend to take 
on No. 16 Notre Dame. To take a 
step up as a program this year and 
compete in these tough games, 
the Spartans will need to rely on 
some of their younger players 
for depth — their 2019 recruiting 
class includes five players from the 
Collegiate Girls Basketball Report 
Top 100. 
They probably won’t compete 
with Maryland for the regular 
season conference championship, 
but don’t be surprised if the 
Spartans make some noise in the 
Big Ten Tournament or even pull 
off an upset in the second round of 
the NCAA Tournament. 

No. 23 Minnesota
The Golden Gophers did not 
make the NCAA Tournament last 
season after finishing 21-11, but 
the return of three of their top 
four scorers led to a No. 23 rank in 
the preseason AP poll. The return 
of an all-Big Ten player in Destiny 
Pitts gives Minnesota optimism 
that it can take the next step in 
coach Lindsay Whalen’s second 
year despite the loss of leading 
scorer Kenisha Bell.
However, their season got off to 
a rough start after losing at home 
to unranked Missouri State on 
Tuesday. The result showed that 
the loss of Bell will take some time 
to adjust to, and may be too much 
for Minnesota to overcome to live 
up to the preseason hype.
No. 24 Indiana
The Hoosiers limped to a 
disappointing 
8-10 
conference 
record last year, but they still 
earned an at-large bid in the 
NCAA Tournament, where they 
were bounced in the second round 

by No. 2 seed Oregon. This year, 
Indiana returns all but one of its 
regular players from last season, 
making the Hoosiers poised to 
compete for one of the top spots in 
the Big Ten. 
Redshirt 
junior 
guard 
Ali 
Patberg led the team in scoring 
last year, with 15.8 points per 
game. 
Her 
offensive 
prowess 
earned her a spot on the All-
Big Ten second team and on the 
preseason Naismith Award watch 
list, so expect her to put up even 
bigger numbers as she continues 
to develop this year. 
Out of every team on this list 
not named Maryland, Indiana 
might have the highest ceiling 
since it returns so much talent, 
but the Hoosiers are still largely 
unproven on the big stage. It’s hard 
to see this team taking a step back, 
though, so expect the Hoosiers to 
make it to the second round of the 
NCAA Tournament, at least.

What you need to know about the Big Ten basketball season

THE DAILY WOMEN’S 
BASKETBALL BEAT

Daily Sports Writers

MILES MACKLIN/Daily
The Michigan State women’s basketball team was voted No. 17 in the preseason AP basketball poll after a 2018-19 season that ended with a blowout loss to Notre Dame in the second round of the tournament.

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