Big Ten Women’s Basketball sees five teams ranked in Top 25

• The stretch run begins for Big Ten basketball this week, with less than three weeks to go in the regular season and the top five teams in the standings separated by two games. This week’s conference schedule includes several noteworthy matchups, including the first of two between in-state rivals Michigan and Michigan State on Thursday (6:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network) and three nationally-televised games next Monday night, Feb. 14. BTN will broadcast a Valentine’s Day doubleheader (Indiana at Nebraska, followed by Ohio State at Illinois), while ESPN2 airs the revival of the Big Ten’s highest-scoring matchup from last season when Maryland visits Iowa (in the two meetings between those schools last year, both won by the Terrapins, the average combined point total was 196 points).
• Michigan remains atop the Big Ten standings at 11-1, having won a school-record eight consecutive conference games after Sunday night’s victory over No. 21/24 Iowa. The Wolverines also improved to 7-1 against Top 25 teams this year, including the first top-five victories in school history over Baylor and Indiana.
• Ohio State’s Kevin McGuff became the 14th Big Ten women’s basketball coach all-time (fifth active, including Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer, who is not coaching this year) to record 100 regular-season conference victories when the Buckeyes defeated Rutgers Monday night in Columbus. McGuff is 100-48 (.676) in Big Ten play during his nine seasons at OSU. Of note, two other current Big Ten coaches are nearing the 100-win mark in conference play — Northwestern’s Joe McKeown (99) and Michigan’s Kim Barnes Arico (97), with those two programs set to meet Sunday afternoon in Evanston.
• Numerous midseason and late season watch lists for major national awards have been released within the past week (with others to come) and the Big Ten is among the country’s top conferences when it comes to players making these lists. No fewer than 12 Big Ten players are on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Wade Trophy Midseason Watch List, with seven on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team, five on the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 List, and multiple conference standouts on every position-based award finalist chart, including the Dawn Staley Award (top guard), Nancy Lieberman Award (top point guard) and Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (top shooting guard).
• The 2022 Big Ten Tournament presented by TIAA tips off in three weeks and tickets remain on sale for the 29th annual event, which will be played March 2-6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Tickets may be purchased through the respective school ticket offices, as well as the Gainbridge Fieldhouse box office or online at Ticketmaster.com, while media members should contact Chris Masters in the Big Ten Communications office to gather details on applying for credentials. For more on this year’s tournament, visit the official Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament web site at bigten.org/WBBT.
• The Big Ten ranks among the national leaders with five teams in the Top 25 in both of the latest major national polls. No. 4/4 Michigan leads the way, followed by No. 7/6 Indiana, No. 15/12 Maryland, No. 21/21 Ohio State and No. 25/24 Iowa. Nebraska is also receiving votes in both current polls.
• Michigan moved up to No. 4 in this week’s AP and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today poll, the highest ranking in school history in either poll. Michigan is the third Big Ten program to earn a top-five ranking in both major national polls this season, along with Indiana and Maryland (which was in the top five of both polls for the first three weeks this season).
• With Michigan’s current No. 4 ranking this becomes the second season in Big Ten women’s basketball history (and first in nearly 30 years) the conference has had three top-five teams in the same campaign. In 1992-93, Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State were all in the top five at some point, with the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes ultimately reaching the NCAA Final Four (and OSU playing for the national title).
• The Big Ten is among the national conference leaders with six teams in the top 35 (and five of the top 25) in Wednesday’s NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings. Michigan leads the Big Ten contingent at No. 12, followed by No. 16 Maryland, No. 19 Indiana, No. 20 Nebraska, No. 21 Iowa and No. 32 Ohio State.
• Two Big Ten teams were among those listed in the first of the three NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee regular-season top-16 seed reveals announced Jan. 27. Indiana checked in as the No. 6 national seed, while Michigan was the No. 9 national seed, according to the Committee. The next top-16 seed reveal will be Thursday, with the final one on Feb. 28 before the official 68-team NCAA Tournament field is unveiled on Selection Sunday, March 13.
• As of Wednesday, 20 NCAA Division I players are averaging 20 points per game this season, and six of those play in the Big Ten, including four of the nation’s top 11 scorers. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark leads the country in scoring (27.4 ppg.), with Penn State’s Makenna Marisa currently seventh (22.4 ppg.) and Michigan State’s Nia Clouden is ninth (21.4 ppg.). Michigan’s Naz Hillmon is 14th (20.5 ppg.), Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon is 16th (20.3 ppg.) and Iowa’s Monika Czinano rounds out the group in 17th (20.2 ppg.). No other conference has more than half that many 20-point scorers this season (the MAC is next with three), and collectively, the Autonomy Five conferences, plus the BIG EAST, have only four 20-point scorers.
• The Big Ten has four of the nation’s top 11 scoring offenses (and three of the only seven in the country averaging better than 80 ppg.) residing in the conference — Iowa (3rd – 84.5 ppg.), Ohio State (5th – 82.1 ppg.), Maryland (6th – 80.8 ppg.) and Nebraska (11th – 78.8 ppg.). Only one other conference has multiple schools among the nation’s top 11 scoring offenses (the Sun Belt has three), and combined, the other Autonomy Five conferences, plus the BIG EAST, have just three of the top 11 scoring offenses.
• When it comes to shooting percentages, the Big Ten also sets the pace. Iowa is first and Ohio State third nationally in field-goal percentage (Iowa at .497, Ohio State at .473), leading four conference schools in the top 15 in that category (Michihgan is 10th at .464 and Indiana 15th at .459) — no other conference has more than two in the top 15 (the ACC, BIG EAST, OVC and SEC have two each). OSU also is the national leader in three-point percentage (.400), while Iowa is tops in free-throw percentage (.849).
• The Big Ten leads all conferences in scoring (71.0 ppg.), field-goal percentage (.436) and three-point field-goal percentage (.341), while ranking third in free throw percentage (.731; tops among Autonomy Five conferences), with the latter fueled by Iowa’s nation-leading .849 mark from the stripe. Iowa’s free-throw percentage is on pace to break the Division I record set last year by Milwaukee (.838) and would surpass the Big Ten record the Hawkeyes set last year (.800).
• Northwestern’s Veronica Burton posted four steals Sunday at Northwestern, moving the senior guard into fourth place on the Big Ten career steals chart (362). Burton, who leads the Big Ten and is in a virtual tie for No. 1 nationally with 4.05 steals per game (first among Autonomy Five players), needs 10 thefts to rise to No. 2 on the conference list (Michigan’s Stacey Thomas had 372 from 1997-2000) Former Northwestern guard Ashley Deary is the all-time Big Ten record holder with 429 steals from 2014-17.
• Iowa sophomore guard Caitlin Clark tied a Big Ten record with her sixth career triple-double, and extended her current conference record with her fifth this season on Feb. 3, registering 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the Hawkeyes’ win at Wisconsin. Clark matched the Big Ten career mark held by Iowa’s Samantha Logic (2011-15), while her five season and six career triple-doubles are both good for fifth in NCAA Division I history. Big Ten players have accounted for nine of 32 triple-doubles in NCAA Division I this year — Clark (5) and Purdue’s Jeanae Terry (2) are two of four to do it multiple times (the other being Fresno State’s Haley Cavinder, who has three, and LSU’s Khayla Pointer with two), with Nebraska’s Jaz Shelley and Penn State’s Makenna Marisa also posting triple-doubles this year. In addition, the Big Ten has more than twice as many triple-doubles as any other conference in the country (the SEC has four).
• The Jan. 31 matchup between No. 6/7 Michigan and No. 5/6 Indiana in Ann Arbor marked the first time two Big Ten teams ranked in the top six of the Associated Press poll met in a regular season conference game since Feb. 29, 2004, when No. 6/7 Penn State won at home over No. 4/4 Purdue, 69-60. Those same two squads would play again nine days later on March 8, 2004, in the Big Ten Tournament championship game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with No. 6/7 Purdue edging No. 5/5 Penn State, 59-58.
• The Big Ten leads the nation with five teams in the top 25 and 10 in the top 35 of Wednesday’s NCAA attendance report. Iowa is the top Big Ten team at No. 9 (6,411 fans/game), followed by Maryland (11th – 5,035), Nebraska (18th – 4,243) and Indiana (20th – 3,941). Michigan State is 23rd (3,455), with Minnesota at No. 26 (3,252), Purdue at No. 28 (3,231), Ohio State 30th (3,073), Wisconsin at No. 31 (2,962) and Michigan 34th (2,910).