The 2026-27 women’s college basketball season is set to tip off in just 11 days, and unlike the somewhat predictable landscape of last year, the race for the national player of the year appears wide open. While reigning consensus winner Sarah Strong returns to UConn and Notre Dame’s defensive stalwart Hannah Hidalgo prepares for her final collegiate campaign, they are stepping into a crowded field of superstars ready to stake their claim to the sport’s top individual honors.
The most anticipated storyline of the early season is undoubtedly the return of USC’s JuJu Watkins. The 2025 national player of the year, who missed the entirety of last season while recovering from a knee injury, is back in the Trojans’ starting lineup. Her debut, scheduled for Nov. 2 against UNLV in Las Vegas, will be the first major litmus test of the season: the basketball world will be watching closely to see if she can immediately reclaim her form as the country’s most explosive offensive threat.
Watkins joins Strong, Hidalgo, and Vanderbilt scoring machine Mikayla Blakes in what is being classified as the “Tier 1” of the national player of the year conversation. These four players are widely viewed as the only realistic candidates to hoist the Wooden, Naismith, or Wade trophies, with analysts suggesting that any other winner would constitute the college basketball story of the year.
Strong, who averaged an impressive 18.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game last season, is now firmly the face of the Huskies’ program. Meanwhile, Hidalgo remains a disruptor unlike any other in the sport, having already shattered the single-season NCAA record for steals with 202 last year. Blakes, having led the nation in scoring at 27.0 points per game as a sophomore, enters the year with the reputation of a consistent, high-volume star who thrives against top-tier SEC competition.
The season’s schedule is specifically front-loaded to put these contenders to the test. UConn’s brutal nonconference stretch between Nov. 5 and Dec. 9—featuring matchups against Iowa, South Carolina, and Notre Dame—will provide the perfect stage for Strong to solidify her status. Similarly, Hidalgo will have a direct opportunity to influence the narrative, as Notre Dame faces off against Blakes’ Vanderbilt squad on Dec. 3, the Huskies on Dec. 9, and Watkins’ USC team on Dec. 19.
While Texas’ Madison Booker sits in a strong “Tier 2” position as a potential first-team All-American, the depth of the field is rounded out by emerging talents like South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards and Oklahoma State’s Audi Crooks. As the opening tip approaches, one thing is certain: the journey to the 2027 award will be a grueling, high-stakes marathon that will define the college basketball landscape through March.
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