Big Ten women’s basketball ‘really going in an incredible direction’ in 2022-23

MINNEAPOLIS — Even Megan Kahn, the Big Ten’s vice president for women’s basketball, did not entirely anticipate what has happened this year in Big Ten women’s basketball.

“I knew it was going to be a special year,” Kahn said. “I don’t think anyone predicted this special of a year. It’s just been absolutely incredible.”

The Big Ten has three teams in the top six of Monday’s Associated Press Poll — the latest sign of the 2022-23 season marking a golden age in Big Ten women’s basketball.

“It’s certainly a year to celebrate the Big Ten,” ESPN college basketball commentator Rebecca Lobo said in a phone call with The Gazette.

Kevin McGuff, the head coach at Ohio State since 2013, believes “the brand of Big Ten women’s basketball and the play that I’ve seen” is the best that it’s been during his tenure in the conference.

“Big Ten women's basketball is really going in an incredible direction,” McGuff said after his Big Ten championship loss to Iowa. “I think we have several teams that can make deep runs in the tournament.”

The NCAA selection committee’s final regular-season reveal of the top 16 overall seeds before Selection Sunday included five Big Ten teams.

That was before Michigan’s loss to Wisconsin, though, and the Wolverines likely did not help their case with a quarterfinal exit in the Big Ten tournament.

If five teams host games, the Big Ten would make history in 2022-23. The Big Ten has had four-plus teams in the top 16 twice since 2000, but never more than that.

ESPN women’s basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme has projected seven Big Ten teams to make the NCAA tournament field, which would tie the conference record.

Others, Creme believes, are a little short of making the field. Nebraska is in the “first four out,” and Michigan State is in the “next four out.”

The strength of the top tier of the conference reminded Maryland Coach Brenda Frese of the ACC’s dominance in the mid-2000s.

“It reminds me of the year when we won our national championship in 2006 in the ACC,” said Frese, a Cedar Rapids native. “We had to battle the entire time, and you had us, Duke, and (North) Carolina in the Final Four that year.”

Past Big Ten teams — “whoever the team might be” at the top — have often carried the critique of “they score, but they don’t defend,” Lobo said.

“That’s not the feeling — certainly not this year — and I don’t think it was last year either,” Lobo said.

The on-court success has translated into fan support.

“Because of the number of good teams and because of the style of play, it’s really fun to watch,” Lobo said. “You have some elite-level talent.”

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark — Lobo described her as “the most exciting player in the country” — has been especially important in growing interest in Big Ten women’s basketball.

Clark’s appeal stems from more than just logo 3-pointers. Kahn lauded the Iowa guard for “how she handles herself off the court” — signing autographs, handling the increased media spotlight with poise, etc.

“My little nephews run around in Caitlin Clark jerseys,” Kahn said. “It really transcends gender at this point, which, as we know, has been very hard to do at this point in women’s basketball.”

For the first time in conference history, Fox aired a Big Ten women’s game on its main broadcast channel. Clark, Kahn said, “was a huge factor in it.”

Fox aired the Jan. 7 Iowa-Michigan game despite not being contractually obligated to air any Big Ten women’s basketball games under the current media rights agreement.

“They understand the upward trend that we're on,” Kahn said. “It also helps when you have a Caitlin Clark factor.”

With ABC also broadcasting some games involving Big Ten teams, the conference had games on two of the four major broadcast networks in 2022-23. The most-watched sports channel, ESPN, also has aired games this year.

“It's huge because those networks are in nearly every household in the country,” Kahn said.

The Big Ten had at least 15 games with 200,000-plus viewers this season — a stark contrast from four games above 200,000 viewers in 2021-22 — according to a conference spokesman.

Forty-four percent of the 50 highest-rated regular season women’s basketball games included at least one Big Ten team.

Attendance increased for 13 out of 14 teams in the conference, and five teams saw attendance increase by at least 2,000 fans.

Iowa’s attendance — 10,737 fans per home game — set a Big Ten record. The Hawkeyes also saw especially large crowds at several road venues in Big Ten play.

Sunday’s Big Ten championship, with 9,505 fans in attendance, set a Big Ten tournament record for any single session.

“Our attendance numbers have been astronomical this year,” Kahn said. “One, it shows there's interest in women's basketball. Two, we're seeing investment dollars in women’s basketball.”

The Big Ten will face some challenging TV headwinds with the conference’s change in media contract, which goes into effect in 2023-24. It loses ESPN as a broadcast partner after instead partnering Fox, NBC and CBS.

“Of course it has a huge impact for us just because of where ESPN is in the women's basketball media landscape,” Kahn said. “It has traditionally been the go-to place for women’s basketball.”

As part of the new agreement, NBC’s Peacock streaming service will have 30 regular-season women’s basketball games per year, and CBS will broadcast the conference championship game.

Kahn, along with seeing Fox “step up,” envisions an opportunity to capture a new audience with the addition of Peacock.

“Commissioner (Kevin) Warren used to love to say, ‘We need to appeal to a 5-year-old and a 105-year old,’” Kahn said. “To be able to do that across different platforms, I think, is really the future of where things are going.”

Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder has previously advocated for conferences to sell women’s basketball media rights separately rather than packaging it other sports, like what the Big Ten did.

“What they could be making off women’s basketball — they are underselling us,” Bluder said in June 2022.

Kahn and the conference have gotten creative with finding different ways to promote the Big Ten brand, including a fashion collaboration that was on display during the Big Ten semifinals.

“It's continuing to find new ways to expose people and drive awareness across platforms that maybe haven't traditionally been done before,” Kahn said.

As the conference enjoys what appears to be a golden age, a national championship has remained elusive for the Big Ten. The last member school to win it all was Purdue in 1999.

Other teams have come close. Purdue and Michigan reached the national championship game in 2001 and 2005, respectively, before losing to Notre Dame and Baylor.

Even Final Four appearances have been hard to come by. The 2014-15 Maryland Terrapins have been the only Big Ten team since 2006 to go to the Final Four.

“We need to get somebody in the Final Four, and I think the Big Ten knows that,” Bluder said Sunday. “All of us coaches know that.”

Kahn and others at the Big Ten can continue to find new ways to bring attention to the conference’s women’s basketball brand, but there is no substitute for winning in March.

“The strength of our league this year has certainly generated a lot of national attention,” Kahn said, “but I think we really got to see a team get to the Final Four and have that success to garner that next level of respect.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com