Happy birthday to me! I turn 28 today, feel very old about it and am moving on from that!

Before I look at last season one more time, a reminder that next week should be the start of Big Ten team previews for the 2025-26 season. I am pretty confident I will get one published, but it may come out later in the week on Wednesday or Thursday (7/2 or 7/3). Then, after that, back to the initial Tuesday weekly publishing date.

Also, thanks to everyone who has continued reading over here on Beehiiv. I hope you’ve barely noticed!

This is my annual check-in on how the Big Ten fared from a national perspective. In the past, I compared the conference to the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC. Of course, the Pac-12 more or less does not exist anymore, largely thanks to the Big Ten eating a significant chunk of its teams.

Here, I am going to judge the now-five major conferences in two key areas: Overall metrics and success in the NCAA Tournament.

March Madness Success

Fair or not, the NCAA Tournament is what most people will remember season to season when judging the conferences against each other. It may not show off the depth of a conference, but it does show how they fare when put up against one another in a do-or-die situation.

Number of Teams

1. Big Ten - 12 teams

2. SEC - 10

3. ACC - 8

4. Big 12 - 7

5. Big East - 2

The boost in total teams led to a big boost in NCAA Tournament entrants for the Big Ten, who led the way with a dozen teams. But it’s not fair to say that’s the only reason for growth here, as the Big Ten had only seven teams make the 2024 tournament. So, even considering that all four former Pac-12 programs did make the cut this year, the Big Ten still added one more overall from its core 14 teams to get to a dozen.

Immediately, I feel regret including the Big East again, but I feel obligated to do so this time around. Why?

March Madness Wins (and Percentage)

1. SEC - 21 wins (67.7%)

2. Big Ten - 16 (57.1%)

3. ACC - 11 (57.9%)

4. Big 12 - 8 (53.3%)

5. Big East - 6 (85.7%)

Well I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but UConn, known Big East program, won the national championship, and did so in very dominant fashion. Yes, the Big East had just one other team — Creighton — who lost in the first round. But the Huskies continue to keep them in this conversation for now, even though you will continue to see the Big East in last just about everywhere.

The Big Ten’s NCAA Tournament success was eclipsed by the SEC pretty significantly, as they earned five more wins with two less entrants. Outside of that, the ACC was just marginally stronger in win percentage, but the Big Ten still held a major overall win count advantage and still got a team into the Final Four for a third straight season.

This is, also, an improvement over the Big Ten’s 2024 tournament in every way. The conference nearly doubled its win total from the nine victories last season, and did so with a slightly higher win rate (56.3% in 2024).

The Metrics

Here, we can get a better picture of how each of the conferences were on the whole. Using Her Hoop Stats’ offensive, defensive and team ratings, this will be a look at the average scores for each conference.

Offense

1. SEC - 108.39 offensive rating

2. Big Ten - 107.69

3. ACC - 105.11

4. Big 12 - 104.5

5. Big East - 98.89

The SEC reigned supreme on offensive last season, moving up from third last year and jumping 4.15 total rating points to do so. The Big Ten’s overall offensive rating also went up, but by only 0.07 points. This had been the conference’s most notable strength in the Caitlin Clark era, and while it certainly hasn’t become a net weakness, the SEC was able to take the crown without as much of a top-heavy force.

That said, the Big Ten may have had the most consistent offenses from top-to-bottom. Purdue finished in last with a 95.5 offensive rating, which was the highest last-place finisher of any conference. Northwestern’s 99.2 rating, which ranked 16th in the Big Ten, was better than the average Big East offense.

Defense

1. SEC - 84.05 defensive rating

2. Big 12 - 86.74

3. Big Ten - 86.76

4. ACC - 87.31

5. Big East - 88.86

After a last-place finish in defensive rating for the 2023-24 season, a placement on the podium is a significant improvement for the Big Ten. They were also two hundredths of a point away from matching the Big 12 in second.

The Big Ten, as well as the first-place SEC, were the only two conferences to see their defensive ratings improve. The Big Ten’s 2.09-point improvement was the largest of the bunch, and the reasons for why are clear: The Pac-12 additions. USC (73.4) and UCLA (74.3) were by far and away the top defenses in the Big Ten last season, and Oregon’s 83.9 rating was strong enough to improve the average as well.

While the SEC continues sweeping these categories, they were helped here as well with the inclusion of Texas’ defensive rating of 71. South Carolina (69.2) still led the pack for the conference, but the Longhorns were smothering all season.

Overall (vs. 23-24)

1. SEC - 24.34 rating (+5.13)

2. Big Ten - 20.94 (+2.16)

3. ACC - 17.79 (+1.14)

4. Big 12 - 17.76 (-0.13)

5. Big East - 10.05 (-1.05)

In the final season of the 14-team Big Ten, I planted the conference firmly in third place behind the SEC and the Pac-12. With the Pac-12 no longer Pac-12ing, the SEC remains the top dog and pretty dominantly so, but the gap between them and the Big Ten feels about as large as the Big Ten and the rest of the conferences.

The SEC made a huge overall leap in team ratings thanks to an offensive surge, while the Big Ten did it almost strictly on the back of improved defense. The Big Ten was also much more solid from top-to-bottom in 24-25, even with an increase in teams. Only the Boilermakers finished with a negative team rating (-0.7), while 13 teams finished with ratings north of 19.

Credit to the Big 12 for staying a strong conference, even with the losses of the Longhorns and Sooners to the SEC. The rise of TCU was a key factor, as was the addition of Utah, who remained solid throughout a conference and head coaching change.

So, all that is to say that the Big Ten feels, pretty clearly right now, like the second-best women’s basketball conference in the country. A national title could begin to bring them into first-place consideration, but as it stands now, the conference continues to wholly improve and is much improved defensively compared to seasons past. The rosters left for this upcoming season signal to me that the positive progression will keep continuing forward.

Team previews start next week. TEAM PREVIEWS START NEXT WEEK. See you there.

Photo Credit: Caren Nicdao, UCLA Athletics