Battle of LA in Big Ten title game: USC, UCLA to meet for conference tourney title as first-year members
Freshman Avery Howell and sophomore Malia Samuels had answered every question asked of them following their fourth-quarter performances that clinched the Trojans a berth to the 2025 Big Ten tournament championship game. For their final query, they needed an assist.
Did they have a preference between UCLA and Ohio State for who they wanted to face in the title game?
'That's going to be a no,' USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said from at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as the second semifinal was underway. 'Whoever wins, we'll be ready to play.'
Ask almost anyone else that question and they would've answered right away. It's the same as it would've been in September. USC and UCLA are not only two of the best teams in the country, with national title-contending rosters, they're rivals experiencing a glow-up after decades of dimness. They boast national player of the year candidates, USC's JuJu Watkins and UCLA's Lauren Betts, surrounded by top transfer hauls on positional player of the year shortlists.
It comes as little surprise the traditional Pac-12 powers will meet for the title on Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET, CBS) in what has proven to be a complete takeover of the Big Ten. Including Washington and Oregon, all four former Pac-12 teams qualified for the 15-team conference tournament, forcing Purdue, Northwestern and Penn State to watch from home.
The Los Angeles programs topped them all.
Regular season champion USC lost a single conference game, to Iowa on the road ahead of Caitlin Clark's postgame jersey retirement ceremony. The Trojans advanced thought the Big Ten tournament with an 82-70 semifinal win over Michigan.
UCLA lost two games all season, both to USC. Bruins players and coaches haven't been quiet about wanting to see USC again.
'From the very beginning, I was pretty emphatic about that,' UCLA head coach Cori Close said after blasting Ohio State, 75-46, in the second semifinal. 'I think I was asked about that right after our game we lost at our place (on March 1). And I said, absolutely, I'd love another opportunity.'
The latest bout in the 2025 Los Angeles series — and the third in 23 days — arrives amid different circumstances.
Neither will have home advantage on the court or in the crowd. The UCLA and USC contingents were strong through two days for programs based more than 2,000 miles away. They paled in comparison to the Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State and Michigan concentrations here in the heart of Big Ten country. And in a city newly filled with Indiana Fever, more WNBA and neutral women's basketball gear dotted the landscape than that of the conference's newest standouts.
Optimal rest and preparation is subjective for both. It will be the third game in three days, and already the schedule appeared to take a toll on USC. Starting center Rayah Marshall missed the quarterfinals with an illness and Watkins looked a step slower and winded late in the semifinals. The Trojans played closer contests, edging Indiana by five in the quarterfinals. UCLA, which had to work for a win over Nebraska in the quarters, went deep into its bench with the win over Ohio State out of hand by halftime.
The Big Ten trophy for the history books awaiting the winner in a day is almost secondary in a matchup weighted in levels.
It is their final chance to add a cherry on top of their NCAA tournament résumés with a logjam of programs jockeying for No. 1 seeds. ESPN and Her Hoop Stats projected both teams maintaining No. 1 seeds in their bracketology heading into the conference tournament semifinals. Notre Dame likely squandered its chance by not making it to the ACC title game, while Texas, South Carolina and Connecticut are also top contenders.
The No. 1 overall seed is still up for grabs, creating a tough decision for the NCAA women's basketball committee in the coming week. USC winning three over UCLA could prove the difference in a higher position. UCLA finding its footing against the only team it's lost to would brighten its outlook after solidly holding the overall top spot in its otherwise undefeated run.
That's all noise in the background of UCLA's present reality.
The Bruins played poorly in both of their biggest games this season, allowing Watkins to score 68 total points while shooting 45 percent, blocking shots and packing the rest of the stats. The Trojans dictated the play both at home and on the road.
'If you're a real competitor, you want to be tested against the very best and you want to have opportunities to conquer your previous adversities,' Close said. 'That's exactly what we're getting. It forces you to dig deep and to find new levels of growth.'
Betts, the Bruins' fulcrum, performed below her season standards with inefficient shooting, and disappeared defensively.
'Everyone's been held accountable individually and we've had a lot of meetings,' Betts said. 'We obviously felt really badly about how we played them the last time and how we showed up, and we don't ever want to feel that again.'
While the tournament matchups in the interim were fun and all — a young, upset-minded Michigan team and Iowa's group nearly crashing the party in Caitlin Clark's new house highlighted the week — this is what the masses yearned for on championship Sunday.
USC, with two wins in what could end up being a four-game series should they meet in the NCAA tournament, can stay hushed about it. UCLA called its shot for everyone.
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Dane Brugler's 2026 NFL Draft summer positional rankings: Wide receivers
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Heights and weights are what NFL teams have on file for each player, with a 'v' representing verified measurements and 'e' for estimated measurements.) For a good-sized receiver, Tyson moves like a much smaller athlete, which helps him separate mid-route. He accelerates well with his initial steps to stack cornerbacks vertically or snap his breaks, disrupting the balance of defenders. Once the ball is in the air, Tyson finds another gear, and his competitiveness and fluidity show in his adjustments to the football. Tyson had a pair of touchdowns against Kansas State — both illustrate his strengths as a route separator. His quickness at the line, along with his footwork and acceleration mid-route, creates targets for his quarterback. Tyson tracks the ball reasonably well and competes with the physicality to finish grabs in traffic, but he had a drop on five of the six videos I studied from his 2024 season. Though his 8.5 percent drop rate isn't catastrophic by any means (Marvin Harrison Jr. had an 8.2 percent rate his final season at Ohio State), Tyson needs to be more reliable as a finisher to maximize his potential. Advertisement Deion Sanders completely revamped the Colorado roster when he took over as head coach in 2023 and helped engineer a quick turnaround. One of his missteps when he arrived in Boulder, however, was not keeping Tyson after he led Colorado in receiving yards as a true freshman in 2022. Tyson (who suffered a torn ACL, MCL and PCL late in the 2022 season) wanted to stay, but he felt unwanted after meeting with Sanders and the other coaches. Instead, he landed at Arizona State, sat out most of 2023 and emerged as one of the nation's top receivers in 2024 under the tutelage of Sun Devils wide receiver coach Hines Ward. In addition to his significant knee injury, Tyson also missed last season's Big 12 championship and the Sun Devils' thrilling playoff game against Texas with a broken collarbone — staying healthy will be paramount to his draft evaluation. However, with his quarterback and offensive coaches all returning, the opportunity is there for Tyson to be a Biletnikoff award finalist and favorite for WR1 in the 2026 draft. With his strong, muscular frame, Bell passes the eye test walking off the bus, but he also plays the part expected of an athlete of his stature. He uses his physicality to be a possession target who can make tough grabs over defenders. And with his 4.4 speed, Bell can separate vertically or create explosive plays after the catch. On this catch-and-run touchdown versus Pitt, Bell looks unfazed with the push from the defender, then shows off his explosive acceleration once he stretches out his stride. At 227 pounds, he has no trouble running away from the rest of the defense. 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Death, taxes and Ohio State producing NFL wide receivers. Five Buckeyes receivers have been first-round picks in the past four years, and Tate will be looking to keep the streak going. A top Chicago recruit by way of IMG Academy, Tate was the fourth receiver (behind Harrison, Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming) in 2023, and the third option (behind Smith and Egbuka) in 2024. Tate finished his sophomore year with 52 catches for 733 yards and four touchdowns. Ohio State is breaking in a first-year quarterback and play caller in 2025 and has to replace several established starters from last year's national title-winning squad. But the Buckeyes have arguably the top receiving duo in college football, and Tate will be a crucial weapon as defenses attempt to limit Smith. He enters the season as more of a Day 2 draft pick, but with the chance to rise. No matter the placement of the football, Lemon is very controlled in his ability to uncover and pluck with confidence in his hands quickly. 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His athleticism can also be weaponized on fly sweeps, jets and motions (131 rushing yards in 2024). These two clips illustrate how quickly he finds his top speed — an inside jailbreak screen, and a vertical pattern on which he gets behind the defense and outruns his quarterback's arm (although he's still able to track the ball, slow and complete the catch through contact). Singleton has dangerous speed, but I want to see better pacing and control in using that speed to manipulate the defense, both as a route runner and ball carrier. Though Singleton destroys pursuit angles with his acceleration, I expected him to force more missed tackles by settling his feet and shaking defenders in the open field. That same concept applies to his routes: I want to see him more comfortably setting up coverage before breaking off patterns with his suddenness. 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