NCAA Tournament March Madness

#57 USC

Bubble Watch | Bracketology

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Projection: first four out

USC sits on the bubble because its resume is defined by a handful of headline neutral-site wins and a true road victory at Oregon that suggest real upside while a string of brutal losses at Michigan, Michigan State, and Illinois expose a vulnerability the committee will not ignore. Road wins at Wisconsin and Minnesota and a close victory at Penn State show the team can come through away from home, but narrow defeats at Iowa and Ohio State and a home loss to Oregon underline persistent inconsistency. The strong neutral-site results give the Trojans reasons to be included, yet the lopsided setbacks create enough doubt to keep them teetering on the edge. With meaningful games remaining against UCLA, Nebraska, and Washington there are clear opportunities to erase the bad losses or to cement bubble status depending on how those showdowns play out.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Cal Poly212W94-64
11/9Manhattan331W114-83
11/14(N)Illinois St98W87-67
11/20Troy161W107-106
11/24(N)Boise St60W70-67
11/25(N)Seton Hall51W83-81
11/26(N)Arizona St63W88-75
12/2@Oregon106W82-77
12/6Washington47L84-76
12/9@San Diego225W94-81
12/14Washington St129W68-61
12/17UT San Antonio339W97-70
1/2@Michigan1L96-66
1/5@Michigan St10L80-51
1/9@Minnesota72W70-69
1/13Maryland128W88-71
1/17Purdue7L69-64
1/21Northwestern70L74-68
1/25@Wisconsin29W73-71
1/28@Iowa26L73-72
1/31Rutgers150W78-75
2/3Indiana41W81-75
2/8@Penn St136W77-75
2/11@Ohio St36L89-82
2/18Illinois4L101-65
2/21Oregon106L71-70
2/24@UCLA4228%
2/28Nebraska1226%
3/4@Washington4734%
3/7UCLA4249%