NCAA Tournament March Madness
#38 USC
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Projected seed: 4
USC’s resume pairs a high-powered offense with a defense that has been vulnerable at times, and the tape explains why the committee would view this profile as strong but still unfinished. The Trojans collected signature neutral-site wins over Boise State and Seton Hall and beat Arizona State on a neutral floor while also grabbing a true road victory at Oregon, which shows they can win away from home against quality foes. A home setback to Washington and a wildly chaotic shootout at Troy expose inconsistency and leave margin for doubt. Big Ten play will be decisive because the nonconference blowouts over lesser opponents only highlight offensive firepower without masking defensive questions. Upcoming road tests at Michigan and Michigan State and home clashes with Purdue and Illinois are the obvious opportunities to lock this group in; clear wins in those spots would settle lingering concerns, while split results would leave the résumé hovering between comfortable and vulnerable.
| Date | Opponent | Ranking | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/3 | Cal Poly | 242 | W94-64 |
| 11/9 | Manhattan | 323 | W114-83 |
| 11/14 | (N)Illinois St | 99 | W87-67 |
| 11/20 | Troy | 142 | W107-106 |
| 11/24 | (N)Boise St | 46 | W70-67 |
| 11/25 | (N)Seton Hall | 49 | W83-81 |
| 11/26 | (N)Arizona St | 64 | W88-75 |
| 12/2 | @Oregon | 83 | W82-77 |
| 12/6 | Washington | 48 | L84-76 |
| 12/9 | @San Diego | 253 | W94-81 |
| 12/14 | Washington St | 163 | W68-61 |
| 12/17 | UT San Antonio | 285 | 98% |
| 12/21 | Brown | 223 | 96% |
| 1/2 | @Michigan | 1 | 7% |
| 1/5 | @Michigan St | 11 | 20% |
| 1/9 | @Minnesota | 107 | 67% |
| 1/13 | Maryland | 100 | 83% |
| 1/17 | Purdue | 6 | 32% |
| 1/21 | Northwestern | 56 | 70% |
| 1/25 | @Wisconsin | 37 | 38% |
| 1/28 | @Iowa | 20 | 28% |
| 1/31 | Rutgers | 143 | 90% |
| 2/3 | Indiana | 26 | 54% |
| 2/8 | @Penn St | 105 | 67% |
| 2/11 | @Ohio St | 39 | 39% |
| 2/18 | Illinois | 12 | 40% |
| 2/21 | Oregon | 83 | 78% |
| 2/24 | @UCLA | 30 | 35% |
| 2/28 | Nebraska | 21 | 51% |
| 3/4 | @Washington | 48 | 44% |
| 3/7 | UCLA | 30 | 57% |