The UCLA women’s basketball team plays Michigan this coming Sunday. The game could reasonably be viewed as the centerpiece game of the entire Big Ten women’s basketball regular season, given that UCLA is in first place and Michigan is second. Accordingly, this battle is receiving a major national platform on television.
UCLA-Michigan is on Fox Sports, giving Bruins-Wolverines an over-the-air broadcast. No one has to search cable or streaming for this game. Beyond that, however, this game is on Super Bowl Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern. The game will end around 5:15 p.m. Eastern time, under 90 minutes before the start of Super Bowl LX. This game is a legitimate lead-in to the Super Bowl. UCLA women’s hoops has rarely had this kind of big stage for any regular-season game.
The Women’s NCAA Tournament is its own stage and a separate entity, but in terms of regular-season basketball, UCLA is standing on an elevated platform as it takes on Michigan in what could be the Big Ten game of the year in women’s basketball.
UCLA has dominated the rest of the Big Ten, but this is a chance to take full ownership of the conference with three weeks left in the regular season, which ends on Sunday, March 1. If UCLA beats Michigan on the road in Ann Arbor, it’s hard if not impossible to imagine how any team will be able to stop the Bruins from winning the Big Ten regular season championship.
Getting the Super Bowl platform would only enhance a UCLA victory. Now the Bruins have to focus on getting the job done.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA women’s basketball gets Super Bowl Sunday platform vs Michigan
Reporting by Matt Zemek, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
