UCLA Women's Basketball: Insider Assesses Upside Of Bruins In 2024 Big Ten

Can UCLA make a dent in a new conference next year?

Your UCLA Bruins are just a few months away from their final NCAA season in the Pac-12, before joining a max exodus that is set to dilute their current conference to a "Pac-4," if it will even continue to exist at all.

The Blue and Gold will be linking up with the realigning Big Ten in 2024. The conference, which at present comprises just Midwest-based teams, will also absorb fellow Pac-12 programs USC, Oregon and Washington at that time. Presumably that conference will be renamed with all the new additions!

CQMiles of Crimson Quarry (via SB Nation) believes that UCLA, a consistent presence in recent NCAA Tournaments (they've qualified for six of the past seven women's March Madness runs), is capable of shaking up the Big Ten. 

"UCLA has a very good women’s basketball program," CQMiles writes. "The Bruins have appeared in six of the last seven NCAA tournaments and currently sit at fifth in CBS Sports’ “Way Too Early” Top 25. They upset top-seeded Stanford in their league tourney last season and even gave South Carolina a fight during the early portion of the season. 2023 Pac-12 All-Freshman team guards Londynn Jones and Kiki Rice, members of the best 2022 recruiting class in the country, are players I’m excited to watch when the Bruins go B1G."

The Bruins finished tied for a fourth place finish in the Pac-12 last season with a 27-10 overall record and an 11-7 inter-conference record. The team fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks in a 59-43 semi-blowout during the Sweet Sixteen. 

5'9" guard Charisma Osborne, who's back with the Bruins as a grad student, led the team in the loss with team highs of 14 points and seven rebounds, along with two assists.