USC Basketball: Trojans Ranked in Too-Early Top 25 Lists for 2016-17

USC basketball is primed to enter the 2016-17 season as one of the top 25 teams in the country, with several media outlets including the Trojans in their Too-Early rankings.

After a surprisingly successful season, several media outlets agree that USC basketball can ride their momentum into the Top 25 next year.

The Trojans actually feature in the Top 15 for T00-Early poll projections from NBC, The Big Lead and CBS.

NBC notes that “USC brings back the majority of their important pieces while adding Louisville transfer Shaqquan Aaron to the mix,” ranking the Trojans No. 12. However, that high ranking may be dependent on the return of Julian Jacobs, who recently declared for the NBA draft while leaving the option to come back alive by not hiring an agent.

Over at The Big Lead, they acknowledge important transfers out like Katin Reinhardt and the potential loss of Jacobs, but wonder if the strengths of Nikola Jovanovic, Bennie Boatwright and Jordan McLaughlin could propel the No. 14 Trojans into conference title contention.

CBS agrees with the No. 14 ranking for USC, with Andy Enfield returning his four top scorers on a team that made the tournament in 2016.

Yahoo! Sports puts a more conservative spin on USC’s position entering the new season, while still projecting the Trojans at No. 18.

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• USC Podcast: RoT Radio Ep. 396 on the Football Season’s Fallout
• Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, USC football with five first-teamers

USA Today gives the Trojans a B for this year’s recruiting haul including Jonah Mathews, De’Anthony Melton and Harrison Henderson while placing USC No. 21 in their early rankings. Like others, there’s talk of a potential conference title run: “The talent and experience is there for a Pac-12 title, it’s just a matter of getting the chemistry down and peaking at the right time next season.”

Of course not every one is buying into the USC hype. ESPN excluded the Trojans from their rankings as did Sporting News.

Enfield received a contract extension shortly after USC bowed out of the NCAA Tournament, their first appearance since 2011.

Recent reports indicate that the Trojans will take on a strong out of conference schedule including match ups with SMU, BYU and Texas A&M.