Week One Games To Watch

We are back.

**The online version of this story has been updated to show the Northwestern-Oregon game that I forgot to put in the email version. My bad.

The offseason is finally over. Big Ten women’s basketball is here.

I’m going to again plug the Hoopla subscriber chat, where I will drop some extra game info/thoughts throughout the week before I get to talk about them here every Monday. It is free and available in the Substack app for those interested.

The first games of the season start at noon today, so I am going to pick one game for each team that is worth watching this week. If you are new to Hoopla this season, first of all welcome and thank you for being here. Second, as the season progresses, I will usually highlight something that was interesting from the games that happened in the past week, then pick five games that are worth watching.

Let’s get down to business.

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(All times listed are Eastern Standard Time)

Full Big Ten Schedule

Illinois vs. LIU — 11/9, 8 p.m., B1G+

Illinois does not play a particularly good opponent in the first week of the season, but the Illini also weren’t very good themselves. LIU went 9-18 last season but played decent defense and shot the three well (31.8 percent). The Sharks lost some key talent, but bring back NEC Rookie of the Year Emaia O’Brien, the 5-1 (!!!) guard that scored 9.8 PPG and shot 36.0 percent from deep in her first year.

No. 11 Indiana vs. Vermont — 11/8, 7 p.m., B1G+

The Catamounts are an experienced group with four of their five starters back, including leading scorer Emma Utterback (13.8 PPG, 4.0 APG). However, Vermont got to 20 wins last season thanks to smothering defense, allowing just 53.9 PPG, eighth-best in the country. Indiana is far more talented, but this is a great opening test to see how much the offense has opened up.

No. 4 Iowa @ Drake — 11/13, 3 p.m., viewing options TBD

The Big Ten favorites have some interesting matchups to start the season, but a road game against in-state Drake intrigues me the most. The Bulldogs were a top 75 team in Her Hoop Stats rating and can score, averaging 72.4 PPG last season. They were also led by a former Hawkeye in Megan Meyer (12.2 PPG). This is an efficient, well-rounded group, and while I wouldn’t quite say this is one to watch for an upset, I think Drake keeps this competitive.

No. 17 Maryland vs. No. 1 South Carolina — 11/11, 6 p.m., ESPN2

This one likely needs no introduction. The defending national champions are coming to College Park to face off against the Terps. This is a great chance for this revamped Maryland roster to make an early-season statement, and even a close loss would do exactly that considering how good the Gamecocks are. Stopping Aliyah Boston inside seems like a tall task, and I am curious what Maryland game plans to try and do that.

No. 25 Michigan vs. St. Francis (PA) — 11/11, 7 p.m., B1G+

No big games here for the Wolverines in the opening week, so I’ll be looking at how they do against a St. Francis team that has loved to slow it down, but isn’t particularly good at making stops. The Red Flash were, at the least, a good rebounding team last season, something Michigan potentially could struggle with this season.

Michigan State vs. Western Michigan — 11/13, 3 p.m., B1G+

Like its in-state counterpart, there isn’t a super exciting opponent for the Spartans out of the gates. That said, Western Michigan was a .500 team last season and have a real star in Lauren Ross, who averaged 17.3 PPG as a redshirt freshman.

Minnesota vs. Lehigh — 11/13, 4 p.m., B1G+

There’s reason to think Minnesota is the underdog here. Lehigh won 18 games last season, ranked 87th in the HHS rating and return Mackenzie Kramer, who scored 15.9 PPG and was 11th in the NCAA with 92 made threes on 40.0 percent efficiency. Minnesota is going to be interesting to watch all year, and after the disastrous start last season — a loss to a Jacksonville team that went 2-17 the year prior — the Gophers will look for some early momentum.

No. 22 Nebraska vs. Omaha, 11/7, 1 p.m., B1G+

A big in-state matchup against Creighton waits for next week, but the Cornhuskers get a different one to start the season against Omaha. The Mavericks, coached by former Ohio State assistant Carrie Banks, are still rebuilding, but Florida Gulf Coast transfer Aaliyah Stanley could be an interesting addition. The Cornhuskers rolled through their non-con schedule last season and should start off similarly this week.

**Northwestern @ No. 20 Oregon, 11/7, 6 p.m., Oregon Live Stream

The Wildcats travel to Eugene for a big one to open their season. The Ducks don’t look quite as mighty as they have in prior years and lost forward Sedona Prince for the season, but still have plenty of firepower led by Te-Hina Paopao and Endiya Rogers. Northwestern’s usually stout defense will have to play the game of its life to pull off the upset here, but it is certainly a possibility.

No. 14 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Tennessee, 11/8, 8:30 p.m., BTN

This is my game of the week. The Buckeyes host a Tennessee team that many are projecting to be in the Final Four by the end of the season. The Volunteers are led by Jordan Horston (16.0 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 4.0 APG), who happens to be a Columbus native. The Buckeyes’ offensive prowess matches up perfectly with Tennessee’s smothering defense, and this will be a fascinating early signal of what levels Ohio State can get to.

Penn State vs. Fairfield, 11/11, 7 p.m., B1G+

Fairfield was a NCAA Tournament team last season with a 25-7 record led by its strong defense. The Stags, however, did lose MAAC Player of the Year Lou Lopez Senechal, who transferred to UConn. This would be a huge win for the Nittany Lions regardless, and a sign of real progress for a team that could breakout this season.

Purdue vs. Murray State, 11/10, 6 p.m., B1G+

Purdue is probably favored to go 2-0 this week, but wins against both Marshall and Murray State won’t come easy. The Racers were a 20-win team and were among the most efficient offenses in the country (47.6 FG%, 80.3 FT% and 1.14 points per scoring attempt ranked fourth, sixth and second in the country, respectively). A lot of that was thanks to OVC Player of the Year Katelyn Young, who averaged 20.0 PPG while shooting 57.9 percent from the field. This is no walkover game for the Boilermakers, and it should be a blast to watch.

Rutgers vs. Seton Hall, 11/11, 7 p.m., B1G+

The Scarlet Knights are really playing with eight players this year, and that group gets an immediate test against a Seton Hall team that won 23 games a season ago. The Pirates were a solid offensive unit in all phases, so if Rutgers can compete and even win here, that would be a real promising sign for the start of this rebuild.

Wisconsin @ Milwaukee, 11/7, 8:30 p.m., ESPN+

This is the perfect litmus test for how much the Badgers have grown in a year. Milwaukee was not a very good team last season, but it was good enough to beat Wisconsin 79-67 on the road on Nov. 24. If the Badgers are able to get revenge on the road, as they likely should be able to do, that’s a great tell for the improvement in Marisa Moseley’s group.

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