Can anyone challenge UCLA and Maryland?

UCLA and USC announced themselves to the Big Ten loud and clear last season, finishing first and second in the regular season standings and playing for the conference tournament title. In year two of the expanded league, the Eastern part of the conference looks to assert itself again.

The loss of JuJu Watkins will take its toll on preseason No. 18 USC, which stormed through the conference with a 17-1 regular season record. Although secret scrimmages don’t always tell the story of a team, USC reportedly lost such a scrimmage to an Arizona State team that hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and has a new coach. It can’t be the most comforting feeling for those who thought Southern Cal might make it through the year without much of a drop-off.

That leaves crosstown rival No. 3 UCLA as the favorite according to the league’s coaches and both the league and national media. The Bruins took out the Women of Troy in last year’s Big Ten Tournament.

No. 10 Maryland, which hasn’t won the regular season title since 2020-21, hopes to be the spoiler this year.

The Terrapins know something about coming into the Big Ten and dominating. Brenda Frese led her program to a first-place finish in six of its first seven years in the league. The Terps were second the only year they didn’t win. 

Maryland hasn’t finished above a second-place tie since that initial stretch of dominance, and have spent most of the past four years in the third-through-sixth place stratum of the league. The Terps tied for third on record last season and got the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament before being knocked out in their opening quarterfinal game by No. 5 Michigan.

The voters in the preseason media and coaches polls think it will be a UCLA-Maryland one-two punch at the top of the league this year with the Bruins getting the edge. There’s every reason to believe that is the case, although Michigan may have something to say about that, too. 

The league has some strong 2025 recruiting classes coming in with seven of ESPN’s top 25 classes hailing from the Big Ten. The Bruins are one of that group, coming in at No. 12. It may ultimately come down to the fact that UCLA and the Terrapins edge out the others in the quality of their returners and experienced transfers.

UCLA brings back the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year and AP All-American Lauren Betts. She and teammate Kiki Rice are the only two players in the league to be unanimous coaches selections for the preseason all-conference team. Betts is the only player to get that nod from the media voters.

The Bruins will also get the services of guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who sat out last year recovering from an injury she suffered her final season at Washington State. Leger-Walker is extremely experienced, a proven winner, and a workhorse. 

She led her unheralded Wazzu team to a Pac-12 Tournament championship her final full season with the Cougars. The victims in that championship game were Cori Close and her Bruins 

Leger-Walker played 21 games before suffering a torn ACL in a game against UCLA on Jan. 28, 2024. She was once again averaging over 30 minutes a game for WSU that season, although it was a career-low 33.3 minutes per game.

Another former Pac-12 foe joins the fold from the Utah Utes. Gianna Kneepkens spent four years in Salt Lake City, but her true junior season lasted just eight games due to an injury. 

The sharpshooter has been good on 43.2 percent of her 3-point shots over her career. Last season, she led the Utes with 19.3 points per game, the fourth year in a row of averaging double figures. The six-foot guard also averages 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.9 steals per game in 104 career appearances.

It’s an embarrassment of riches at the guard position for the Bruins–and that’s before considering the size and talent UCLA can run out in the frontcourt. Betts is a known quantity. The team also has size in forwards Timea Gardiner, Angela Dugalic, and Amanda Muse. Then, there’s the addition of Betts’ younger sister Sienna, who was ESPN’s No. 2 player in the class of 2025.

Maryland is responding with firepower of its own. While Frese doesn’t have a ranked freshman class, that might be the least important part of recruiting these days. Besides, the Terrapins do have No. 34 Rainey Welson in the fold along with fellow four-star recruit Addi Mack. Three talented international players complete the group of rookies.

More importantly from a recruiting standpoint, Maryland once again brings in experienced Power 4 talent from the portal. As is typical for a Frese team, they are extremely talented on the offensive end.

Oluchi Okananwa came over from Duke, where she was the ACC Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2025 and the ACC Sixth Player of the Year in 2024 as a freshman. 

Okananwa was the Blue Devils’ third leading scorer last year despite coming off the bench. She averaged 10.1 ppg and was one of just three Duke players to get at least 10 per contest. She also averaged 5.3 rebounds per game, tying Toby Fournier for second on the team.

Yarden Garzon should also provide some firepower for Maryland. She was Indiana’s leading scorer last year and an All-Big Ten honoree.

The Terrapins are already testing themselves. They participated in the Bad Boys Mowers Exhibition Series against No. 9 NC State on Oct. 26. Maryland lost 83-75 in Greensboro, NC., but dropping an early exhibition against a top 10 team in that team’s home state isn’t the worst thing.

Garzon didn’t have a great outing, but Okananwa lived up to billing. She was one of three Terps in double figures with 21 points on 6-for-15 shooting. She added seven rebounds, an assist, a block, and three steals.

Mack and Poffenbarger were the other two Maryland players to break the 10-point barrier. Poffenbarger had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, but she was one of several players for UM that struggled with fouls. She fouled out in 29 minutes.

Mack showed a lot of poise for a freshman. She had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal in 26 minutes. She had no fouls and just one turnover.

If the exhibition is any proof of what the Terrapins will do this year, it could come down to a battle between East and West in this year's Big Ten.