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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