The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 62 is USC basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of USC basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 2
- Elite Eights: 4
- Sweet 16s: 5
- NCAA wins: 17
- Bids: 21
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 14.7
- Bids per season: 0.18
- AP Polls: 207
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 10
- NBA players drafted & played: 36
- Conference Players of the Year: 4
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 7
- Conference tournament titles: 1
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 1
Overall scoop on USC basketball
Now in the Big Ten, USC was one of the most accomplished programs in the history of the Pac-12. They may have only had a handful of conference titles, but the Trojans made some serious runs in March Madness, repping the “Conference of Champions,” billed by the late Bill Walton.
USC also missed out on an NCAA Tournament Championship, being named the Pre-Helms National Champs in 1940, despite taking third place in the tourney. The Trojans went 20-3 that season but lost to Kansas by a point in the Final Four.
Luckily, the program would still see future success on that scale. USC made it back to the Final Four in 1954, under head coach Forrest Twogood, who was VERY good in his time in Los Angeles. Under his leadership, USC went 252-178 in 16 seasons.
USC would have some other great seasons to follow, but it wouldn’t always lead to success in the big dance. In 1971 they finished 24-2, but a second-place finish in the Pac-8 kept them outside of the NCAA Tournament. Paul Westphal was a star on the team that unfortunately had to deal with UCLA in the John Wooden era. They had other great chances, but the Bruins always beat them out. In fact, head coach Bob Boyd went 215-132 there, but his only NCAA Tournament bid came in 1979, despite being ranked in parts of eight of his 13 seasons in town.
As the NCAA Tournament expanded, USC started to tack on some more bids and had a really good run in the 2000s. Players like DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, OJ Mayo, Nick Young, and Taj Gibson helped USC to the Sweet 16 in 2007 and other appearances in March Madness.
Recently, it was Andy Enfield leading USC to an Elite 8 in 2021. The past two seasons have been somewhat disappointing under a great coach in Eric Musselman, but the hope is that he will restore some greatness and maybe even build a more consistent winning culture over time.
And that has really been USC’s unfortunate flaw. They have always had to battle against greatness like UCLA, or right now, getting stuck in a heavyweight conference like the Big Ten. They are more than capable of being a very solid basketball program, but have always had to go up against just as good, if not better, opponents. And even with a really good list of star college and future NBA talents, it hasn’t always worked in the Trojans’ favor. But they still nearly crack the top 60 thanks to other history further back and a lifetime of wins.