After about seven months without college basketball, it's about time it's back. This year women's basketball season is set to be a great one. As the season kicks off this week, here are some of the best things to look forward to:
1. A season that might not be dominated by UConn
Unfortunately, people find a lot of pleasure in criticizing women's basketball as a whole and saying UConn is to blame. I think that the years that UConn had complete dominance over nearly every opponent lit a fire inside of every other women's basketball player in the country to chase their dominance. Now we have a season where UConn isn't the preseason number one, and there is going to be a lot of parity.
2. A potential back to back champ in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame has only gotten better than last season in their campaign to defend their title, and this will leave them in a good position to go back to back. The return of post presence Brianna Turner coming off a full season to recover from an ACL, along with another returner of an ACL Mikaela Vaughn, the Irish are going to be packed with talent—especially in their top six players. It's impossible to not mention all the talent that was on the court for the Irish last year that will be returning. Arike Ogunbowale will return after an offseason full of attention after two buzzer beaters to lead the Irish to the championship. And other important parts surrounding her include post player Jessica Shepard, sharpshooter Marina Mabrey, and versatile guard Jackie Young.
3. A UConn team hungrier than ever
The last time a UConn team went two seasons without a championship, they won four championships in a row, and that stretch included their 111 game winning streak.
4. A talent filled Pac 12
The Pac 12 is always an underrated conference as they get hidden behind the east coast and the ACC, but keep your eyes out for this talent-filled conference this year. There are three Pac 12 teams in the preseason top 10- Oregon, Oregon State, and Stanford. Oregon has many of their impact players back on. One of them is star point guard Sabrina Ionescu (pictured above), and the other is the dominant inside presence of Ruthy Hebard. The Ducks are excited to finally welcome Erin Boley, the Notre Dame transfer, to play after the usual season of ineligibility after a transfer. Oregon State and head coach Scott Rueck are also excited to have transfer point guard Destiny Slocum eligible, after a year out. She'll have an immediate impact on the Beavers' success this season. The Pac 12 hasn't won a championship since Stanford in 1992, keep an eye on the teams out west, especially the Oregon Ducks, in their efforts to put an end to that drought.
5. A lot of notable returns across the country
Overall there are a lot of super talented athletes around the country that had dominant seasons last year that are back at it and even hungrier for success. Some include: Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon); Ruthy Hebard (Oregon); Katie Lou Samuelson (UConn); Napheesa Collier (UConn); Crystal Dangerfield (UConn) Asia Durr (Louisville); Arike Ogunbowale (Notre Dame); Marina Mabrey (Notre Dame); Jessica Shepard (Notre Dame); Jackie Young (Notre Dame); Kalani Brown (Baylor); Teaira McCowan (Mississippi State); Mikayla Pivec (Oregon State); Kat Tudor (Oregon State); Alana Smith (Stanford); Sophie Cunningham (Missouri); Megan Gustafson (Iowa); Kristine Anigwe (Cal) and more.
6. Lindsay Whalen at Minnesota--and the rest of the Big 10
Whalen said goodbye to the WNBA this fall, but not basketball. She's saying hello to a new challenge as she is now in her first season as a head coach at her alma mater, Minnesota. The Big 10 hasn't had the strongest of seasons out of many teams besides Maryland and OSU recently so teams like Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan State, have a chance to make a push this year and put the Big 10 back on the women's basketball map.
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