Gophers women’s basketball lands a different schedule for 18-team Big Ten Conference

We now know whom the Gophers women’s basketball team will face in the upcoming season for the newly expanded Big Ten Conference.

The good news: The Gophers will play border rival Wisconsin twice, the only home-and-home series for the Gophers in the 18-game conference schedule announced Tuesday.

The bad news: Gophers fans will not be able to see rising USC star JuJu Watkins in person at Williams Arena during the 2024-25 season.

USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon will join the schedule this season, eliminating all but one home-and-home series for the Gophers as the league tries to accommodate a conference that has expanded to 18 teams with the new additions.

Other than Wisconsin, the Gophers will play all the other conference teams once. Here’s how it breaks down, with specific days and times — along with the Gophers nonconference schedule — to come later:

Home: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Rutgers, Washington and Wisconsin.

Road: Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin.

The home game slate includes four games against teams that finished .500 or better in the Big Ten last season, including NCAA teams Iowa, Indiana and Michigan and WBIT champion Illinois. Oregon finished last in the Pac-12 last year and Washington 10th.

Minnesota’s away schedule is challenging, with 2024 NCAA tournament teams Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, UCLA and USC.