USC Basketball Ranks Surprisingly High In AP All-Time Top 100

USC basketball features surprisingly high at No. 50 in the AP All-Time Top 100 rankings, showing consistent production over the decades.

The prestige of USC basketball doesn’t quite live up to that of other Pac-12 powers or crosstown rival UCLA, but the Trojans do have a respectable place on the AP’s All-Time Top 100 poll.

USC has appeared in the AP poll 174 times, ranking 50th all-time. That mark is good for a spot in 15.2 percent of polls in history. Of those appearances, 21 involved a Top 5 ranking and 39 featured a place in the Top 10.

The Trojans have maintained an average ranking of 13.9, but have only ever been ranked as high as No. 2 in 1971, per CollegePollArchive.com.

To determine the rankings, the AP assigned a point to each program for number of appearances in the poll and two points for each No. 1 ranking, all during the regular season.

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It’s a slight surprise to see the Trojans ranked ahead of more recent basketball success stories like Xavier, Wichita State and Dayton, especially since the AP basketball poll has only existed since 1949.

USC’s greatest period of basketball success came before World War II, when Leo Calland and Sam Barry won conference titles in 1928, 1930, 1935 and 1940.

Though Forrest Twogood’s teams were reasonably successful with conference championships in 1954 and 1961, the post-John Wooden period for the Trojans has not been particularly successful.

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Still, while the Trojans haven’t achieved great heights, the basketball program has found enough success in nearly every decade to appear in the AP’s Top 50. USC has posted 13 seasons with 20 wins or more since the poll began.

It is no surprise to see so many Pac-12 schools represented. UCLA tops the conference, ranking No. 4. Arizona checks in at No. 8,  followed by Utah at No. 39, Stanford at No. 40, Washington at No. 52, Oregon State at No. 60, Oregon at No. 66, Cal at No. 77 and Arizona State at No. 79.

Washington State and Colorado are the only schools in the conference to miss out on the Top 100.

Andy Enfield and company will hope to improve USC’s standing over the coming years, with the possibility of adding a number of appearances this coming season. The Trojans are poised to snag a preseasons ranking at least, pending NBA decisions for star forwards Chimezie Metu and Bennie Boatwright.