MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Big Ten is again expected to be one of the toughest conferences in the country this season, after a league-record-tying seven teams made the NCAA Tournament last year with three reaching the regional finals and Iowa finishing as the national runner-up.

There doesn’t appear to be any dropoff this season. That will make for a difficult transition for new head coaches Robyn Fralick of Michigan State and Dawn Plitzuweit of Minnesota.

“It’s really, really challenging,” Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said. “The conference has never been better.”

The Big Ten boasts several veteran coaches willing to share their advice about how to acclimate, but most of the insight includes a dose of cold, hard reality.

“Every single night, it’s just an absolute battle,” said Illinois head coach Shauna Green, who went 22-10 in her 2022-23 debut season in the Big Ten and guided the Illini to their first NCAA Tournament in 20 years. “Every program has different schemes and different types of things that you have to prepare for. So you think you know, but again, you don’t really know until you go through it a year.”

Fralick, who grew up just a few miles from Michigan State's campus and starred at Okemos High School, spent the last five seasons as the head coach at Bowling Green State.

Plitzuweit, who was previously a head coach at West Virginia, South Dakota, and Northern Kentucky, has been an assistant at Michigan and Wisconsin.

“You’ve got to stick to your standards. You’ve got to stick to your format and use your belief system. This is a conference that can shake your confidence, and you wonder if you have to change things," said Indiana coach Teri Moren, who's entering her 10th season. "But these new coaches that have joined us are here because they’ve had success. They have to believe in what they’ve done in those other places.”

INSIDE OUT

One of the biggest stories in the Big Ten this fall was the volleyball game at Nebraska that drew 93,000 fans to the football stadium in an atmosphere previously unseen in women’s sports. It’s had an impact on the basketball world, too.

“I just got teary-eyed and chills myself being in that environment,” said Nebraska head coach Amy Williams, who got to watch one of her own players – Maggie Mendleson – take part as a member of the volleyball team. “To watch her out there on that court in the middle of Memorial Stadium was really special.”

Now Iowa is trying to create a similar scene on Sunday at Kinnick Stadium, where the Hawkeyes will host DePaul in an exhibition women's basketball game.

“We’re very excited. I obviously watched the match at Lincoln. It was amazing,” head coach Lisa Bluder said, “probably one of the best women’s sporting events we’ve ever had, and elevated all women’s sports. That was thrilling.”

The Hawkeyes have sold 48,000 tickets for the “Crossover at Kinnick.”

“I’ve never heard the word dew point so many times in my life,” reigning National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark said. “We’re just worried about the moisture, but it sounds like it’s going to be a good day. I need the sun to come out a little bit, but I was on the field for the football game this last week and it’s supposed to be around the same temperature so it felt perfect. The area where the court’s going to be situated in, the wind’s kind of blocked a little bit so it should turn out perfect.”

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Two players return to the Big Ten after participating in summer tournaments with USA Basketball. Minnesota’s Mara Braun helped the U.S. team win gold at the FIBA nations league 3-on-3 tourney in Mongolia. Michigan’s Laila Phelia took silver with Team USA at the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup in Mexico.

Phelia, who was Michigan’s second-leading scorer last season, said the experience gave her a chance to work on different parts of her game.

“With USA my role was defense, and just being able to go in there and take pride in my defense was an eye-opening experience,” Phelia said.

Wolverines head coach Kim Barnes Arico has noticed another change in the junior guard.

“I think it also helped give her tremendous perspective coming back on the different roles of the different people on our team, and how valuable each person’s role is, even if their numbers don’t always show up in the box score,” Barnes Arico said.

Plitzuweit beamed about how Braun’s 3-on-3 experience will translate to the full-court game.

“At that pace, you don’t have a chance to stop competing. You have to continue through every part of that short shock clock to the next possession to the next possession,” Plitzuewit said.

PRESEASON HONORS

Iowa was voted by both the coaches and the media preseason polls as the favorite to win the conference, with Indiana, Ohio State and Maryland filling out the top four from both panels.

Clark was predictably picked as Preseason Player of the Year. Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes, Maryland’s Shyanne Sellers, Michigan’s Phelia and Ohio State’s Cotie McMahon joined Clark as unanimous selections for the Preseason All-Big Ten team. Others selected: Illinois’ Makira Cook, Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski and Jaz Shelley, Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon, Penn State’s Makenna Marisa and Minnesota’s Mara Braun.

Ohio State added transfer Celeste Taylor to a well-stocked team in a stacked-again Big Ten

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The ideal approach to sustained success for Ohio State, in coach Kevin McGuff's mind, revolves around recruiting players straight from high school and developing them over four or five seasons.

“We have a system that I like. They tend to get better and better each year," McGuff said. “But we have used the transfer portal to our benefit, obviously, just to kind of fill in some holes.”

The well-timed and carefully chosen addition to the roster can go a long way to complement or even carry a team, and in this dizzying era of the portal there aren't many high-level programs these days that don't at least dip into the pool to pick up an experienced transfer.

The Buckeyes reeled in a big one this year with Celeste Taylor.

“She’s brought a level of maturity and experience that I think is going to be really beneficial,” McGuff said at Big Ten women's basketball media day at Target Center in Minneapolis, where the conference tournament will be staged for the second straight season. “She’s an incredible defender. I think our press has got a chance to be even more effective this year with her in that.”

Taylor brings the potential to be the conference's biggest impact newcomer after she spent the last two years at Duke and her first two college seasons at Texas.

“I tried to recruit her three times, so we finally got her," McGuff said. “She’ll be great for us on the defensive end. We have a little bit different offensive system than she’s played in before, so I think she’ll have more of an opportunity to showcase her skill set.”

Taylor won the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award last season and also led the Blue Devils in scoring. She had a rebounds-steals double-double in Duke’s overtime loss to Colorado in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“It was all about if they had the space and if they needed that extra player, but the winning culture, the style of play, the girls, just the success of the program overall the last two years is definitely what drew me in,” Taylor said.

The Buckeyes have already posted a five-star review of their transfer portal experience with Taylor Mikesell, who arrived in 2021 via Oregon and Maryland. The two-time first team All-Big Ten pick and WNBA draft pick led Ohio State in scoring last season.

There's plenty of returning firepower to fill in, starting with Cotie McMahon, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season. Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Thierry each averaged 13-plus points per game in 2022-23. Rikki Harris brings back her all-over-the-floor energy. Madison Greene is recovering from a knee injury and on track to rejoin the lineup by the end of November.

After reaching the regional finals for the first time in 30 years, the Buckeyes might well be the stiffest competition for defending Big Ten tournament champion and national runner-up Iowa, the consensus favorite to win the conference.

Ohio State was picked to finish second in the coaches’ poll and third behind Indiana in the media poll. ESPN’s national preseason rankings pegged the Buckeyes fourth, the highest of any Big Ten team. The Athletic ranked them seventh, one spot below the Hawkeyes.

The Buckeyes ought to be plenty ready for the Big Ten grind. They open the season in Las Vegas on Nov. 6 against USC, which will join the conference along with three other Pac-12 defectors next year. Ohio State also faces Oklahoma State, Tennessee and UCLA in nonconference play. Then there's this postseason tuneup for the Buckeyes: home games against Maryland and Michigan, followed by a trip to Iowa on March 3 to close their conference schedule.

Guess where the Final Four will be played this season? Yes, in Ohio. The Buckeyes would love nothing more than to be playing in Cleveland next April.

“We’re going to work as hard as we can to get there,” Sheldon said.

Maryland also has a prized newcomer with forward Jakia Brown-Turner, whose transfer from North Carolina State will help offset the departure of WNBA first round draft picks Diamond Miller and Abby Meyers. Brown-Turner is a Maryland native who was a four-year starter for the Wolfpack.

Indiana has star center Mackenzie Holmes back. Michigan ought to be a handful again. The middle of this loaded league is no slouch, either.

“That’s what helps the game forward, when there are really great battles, when there’s a lot of great teams. It can’t just be one end-all, be-all team. It needs to be multiple teams on the same level," Iowa star Caitlin Clark said. “You want to talk about who’s the best team. You want to talk about who’s going to win the Big Ten. You want to talk about who’s the best player. Those are the kind of conversations that spark interest in our game.”

McGuff revealed that he lost 40 pounds through regular exercise and intermittent fasting, recalling how discouraged he was the morning of preseason media day last year when he put on his tie and couldn't button his shirt around his neck.

“I feel a lot better. I’ve got a lot more energy. The key now is to keep it up right?” McGuff said, realizing the fun, long road ahead. “I need to be in fighting shape.”

HUSKERS HEAD TO MINNEAPOLIS FOR BIG TEN MEDIA DAYS

Big Ten Men's Basketball Media Day returns to Minneapolis. as the Target Center will be site of the 2023 event on Tuesday morning. 

Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg along with Josiah Allick, Rienk Mast and C.J. Wilcher will represent the Huskers, as they will meet with national, regional and local media on hand for the event. The players and coaches will visit with the Big Ten’s broadcast partners, including FOX, CBS, NBC/Peacock and BTN as well as other outlets throughout the day.

Event coverage will be provided on BTN as well as the Fox Sports App with 5.5 hours of coverage throughout the day. Live coverage starts at 8:30 a.m. (central) with press conferences from each of the 14 men’s basketball coaches, while coach Hoiberg will be on stage at 10:10 a.m. (central).  The players and Coach Hoiberg will be live on the BTN set at 1:20 p.m. (central). The Husker contingent will also be on SiriusXM at 10:40 a.m. (players) and 1p.m. (Hoiberg).

Wilcher begins his third season at Nebraska as he played in all 32 games, including 24 starts last season. The Plainfield, N.J., native averaged 8.0 points per game and ranked second on the team with 42 3-pointers. Wilcher has played in every game for the Huskers over the last two seasons. 

Mast and Allick in their first seasons in the Husker program. Mast played at Bradley, earning first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors last season as the Braves shared the regular-season title and advanced to the NIT. He averaged 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, as he ranked second in the conference in rebounding and fourth in field goal percentage (51.8 percent). Mast played for the Netherlands national team over the summer in the Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament.  

 Allick, a Lincoln native, joined the program after spending last season at New Mexico. Allick averaged 8.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, ranking second in the Mountain West in rebounding as the Lobos went 22-12 and reached the NIT in 2022-23.

Fans can join the conversation using the hashtag #B1GMediaDay and follow along on Nebraska’s official social media channels (@huskermbb).

The Huskers have their lone exhibition game on Sunday, Oct. 29, as they will face Doane at 5 p.m. The game will be carried on the Husker Radio Network and on online at BTN+.  Season ticket packages and 5 Game Starting Lineup Mini Plans are available by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets.