With the women’s college basketball season upon us, On3’s Talia Goodman answer your biggest questions. In this edition of Talia’s Timeout, she breaks down the Big Ten race, which is the deepest conference, and discusses the impact the NIL has on the recruiting trail. If you have a question for Goodman, be sure to Follow a on X and submit your questions for the next mailbag.
+What is the absolute maximum amount of Big Ten teams you could see making the NCAA Tournament if all goes well?
The Big Ten is deeper than meets the eye. I think eight teams will comfortably earn an NCAA Tournament berth, but there are 10 that could reasonably make an appearance.
The eight in which I feel most confident are USC, UCLA, Ohio State, Maryland, Indian, Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. But Michigan State and Minnesota i’m right there With one less power conference, I think the Big Ten is stronger than ever, and the possibility of a wild horse entering the conversation isn’t out of reach either.
+Which conference is the deepest?
I have to go with dry Here. There are six SEC teams in On3’s preseason top 25 and two that barely missed the cut due to unknowns. Tennessee and Kentucky both have new coaches at the helm and I think both could be serious threats to the top of the conference.
Even teams like Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and BROWN they have really interesting rosters with the potential to earn NCAA Tournament bids. With conference realignment, however, every power conference is really deep this season.
+Who is a mid-major to watch this season?
There are quite a few major media that should make national noise this season. Fairfield comes to mind first, as they lost just one regular season game last season and return their top five scorers from a NCAA Tournament team.
Some other major environments to watch out for are Gonzaga, Belmont, South Dakota State, Florida Gulf Coast and USF. These are all historically very successful programs that are hard to program and will work wonders.
+What is a fatal flaw for each of the top five teams this season?
USC: Chemistry is the obvious answer here. There are so many new pieces to this squad from the transfers Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen to a class of six top 100 freshmen. They have a tough nonconference schedule, so he’ll have to fit in well, and he’ll have to do it early.
South Carolina: Interior scoring is the biggest question mark for the Gamecocks heading into the season. Although they have some talented options, replacing the 6-foot-7 Camilla Cardoso it is not an easy task. Returners 6-foot-3 Fern Feagin and 6-foot-2 Chloe Kitts should rely heavily on the post, but head coach Dawn Staley also added a 6-foot-4 post player Mary David FROM Arkansas.
UConn: Health is the easy answer. No one has struggled more to stay healthy than the Huskies. They still have four players recovering from injury, incl Azzi benefitwhich is a real difference maker for this team. If they can stay healthy, the sky is the limit for UConn.
Texas: Moving to a new conference can be tough, but as I said earlier, it’s also the deepest conference in the country. SEC is a beast. The Longhorns have battled some injuries this offseason and will test themselves early in the season. A non-conference schedule including road games at Mother of God and Richmond and a match against South Dakota Statewill prepare them for SEC play – but they will have to play at Oklahoma, South Carolina, Oh miss and Kentucky. We will see how easily they can adapt to the new league.
UCLA: Honestly, it’s hard to find a “fatal” flaw in the Bruins. They lost Charisma Osborne in the WNBA, but the Bruins return all four of their remaining starters and add three impact transfers along with one of the best freshman classes in the country. It’s not “fatal” per se, but joining the Big Ten presents the struggle of traveling across the country quite often. They will have to play in two of the best home environments in the Big Ten in Indiana and Iowa, which could present a challenge during conference play. But it’s hard to find much to fault with the built-in chemistry this team has and the additions they’ve taken.
+How much of a factor is NIL in recruiting?
We absolutely see the NIL being a major factor in recruiting, especially for this class of 2025. More and more players are hiring agents and focusing their energy on earning value, which is understandable in today’s college landscape. This summer, I saw The Pauldo twins are committing to Tennessee and told On3 that NIL was a major reason they did so.
“Obviously singing together was a special role.” Mya Pauldo On3 said. “But they also had a bigger platform than all the other colleges we were looking at. We thought it would be a better fit for our brand because it would build our brand – and the numbers just fit.”
The best recruit in the class, Aliyah Chavezis heavily considering NIL when choosing a landing spot, multiple sources told On3. The numbers vary from top to bottom of the class, but we’re seeing some players field six-figure offers in the recruiting process.
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