When considering what USC women’s basketball achieved this season, it’s worth stepping back and looking at what other Big Ten women’s basketball programs accomplished.
It’s a very short list of Big Ten teams which did better than USC.
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The Big Ten put only three teams into the Sweet 16. Two of them are meeting in the regional semifinal round, with Minnesota facing UCLA. Michigan is also a Sweet 16 team.
Maryland was the preseason pick to be No. 2 in the Big Ten. The Terrapins did not make the Sweet 16. Michigan State was highly regarded but could not crack the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa was a No. 2 seed but got stunned on its home floor by Virginia in the second round. Ohio State was a No. 3 seed but lost at home to Notre Dame in the second round.
One by one, Big Ten teams with healthier rosters and better overall situations than USC failed to advance beyond the Trojans in the NCAA Tournament. USC’s Round of 32 result is the same as that of several competitors who had higher seeds, better overall talent, and generally higher expectations.
This is all a way of saying that getting to the second round of March Madness with all the limitations on the roster — starting with JuJu Watkins’ absence — is an underappreciated achievement which might be easier to admire in light of the Big Ten’s failures in this 2026 NCAA Tournament.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Big Ten basketball teams with more advantages couldn’t eclipse USC
