JuJu Watkins is back on the court for third-ranked Southern California, and with her return, the Trojans' national championship aspirations are soaring.

The preseason Big Ten Player of the Year who missed last season while recovering from a torn ACL takes the helm of a stacked roster that includes preseason All-Big Ten selection Jazzy Davidson, the league's Freshman of the Year who led the Trojans in every major statistical category during Watkins' absence.

Add in five-star recruit Saniyah Hall, Sara Okeke and Sitaya Fagan, as well as returning defensive stopper Kennedy Smith, and the Trojans are poised for a breakout year.

"We have so much talent,” Watkins said. “There's no ceiling.”

Watkins has a lot to live up to on her own. She averaged 25.5 points while starting all 67 games during her first two seasons, set the NCAA Division I freshman scoring record and earned national player of the year honors.

“Coming back, I haven’t lost my confidence, I haven’t lost my attention to detail,” she said. “Everything is the same, it’s just I’ve been out for a minute.”

While she was gone from the national stage, crosstown rival UCLA stepped in, went 37-1 and won its first NCAA championship.

Now, the Bruins are pushing the reset button after losing a record six players, including Big Ten Player of the Year Lauren Betts, to the WNBA draft. But there's no panic in Westwood.

Coach Cori Close turned — where else? — to the transfer portal for help. She found double-digit scorers Addy Brown (Iowa State), Donovyn Hunter (TCU) and Bonnie Deas (Arkansas). Elina Arnisalo, who helped the Bruins reach the Final Four as a freshman, is back after averaging 10 points a game last season at North Carolina.

Betts' younger sister, Sienna, is fully healthy and eager to make a name for herself as a sophomore.

"We understand the standard. The road map has sort of been set forth for us,” Close said. “The transfers, the freshmen, they have purposefully signed up because of the championship standard, because of a process that we have created that we really believe in. It's just a matter of our commitment to that.”

The Big Ten's talent isn't limited to Los Angeles.

The 18-team conference has nine teams in the Associated Press Top 25, the most ever for one league in the preseason poll. The Southeastern Conference has seven, including four in the top 10.

Fans will want to circle Jan. 30 on their calendars. That's when Michigan visits USC in a matchup of two of the league's most talented rosters. It'll be Watkins and Davidson against the Wolverines' duo of Syla Swords and Olivia Olson.

The Trojans clash with crosstown rival UCLA in a home-and-home matchup on Feb. 7 and Feb. 25 in what could be a preview of March Madness.

Other big games include Maryland at Ohio State on Jan. 2 featuring All-Big Ten first-teamers Oluchi Okananwa of Maryland and Jaloni Cambridge of Ohio State; and Iowa at Minnesota on Jan. 9, with the Hawkeyes' Ava Heiden, Chit-Chat Wright and Georgia transfer Dani Carnegie against the Golden Gophers' Grace Grocholski, Mara Braun and Penn State transfer Gracie Merkle.

Three programs have new coaches this season. Carla Berube took over for retired Joe McKeown at Northwestern, while Tanisha Wright replaced fired Carolyn Kieger at Penn State and Gary Redus II succeeded fired Coquese Washington at Rutgers.

Las Vegas is hosting the conference tournament for the first time, with 15 teams advancing to Sin City from March 3-7 at T-Mobile Arena. UCLA is the two-time defending champion, having ended Iowa's three-year title run during the Caitlin Clark era. It’s only the fifth time since the tournament was first held in 1995 that it will be played outside of Indianapolis. In 2028, it moves to Detroit's Little Caesars Arena.

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