USC Basketball: Trojans NCAA Tournament resume for Week 5

USC Basketball’s hopes of securing a high seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament isn’t looking strong after two straight losses. Here’s a look at the Trojan’s March Madness resume.

Vitals

The past two weeks have not been kind to the Trojans. After starting the year at No. 10 in the AP poll and considered a No. 3 seed in most preseason brackets, USC has fallen all the way down to a No. 6 seed, per Joe Lunardi. They are barely hanging on in the AP poll, receiving only 90 votes this week.

Jay Bilas has them ranked 32nd, which equates to being the worst eight seed in the tournament. Their Sagarin and BPI (Basketball Power Index) ratings are okay, but nowhere near the level they need to be if they want to get consideration for a top four seed.

Overall, the consensus right now is that if the NCAA seeded teams today, the Trojans would be in the tourney; the ceiling would probably be a No. 6 seed and the floor would be somewhere around a No. 8 seed.

Personally, I rank the Trojans as my worst No. 5 seed, 20th overall. Their only losses were to Kenpom Top 25 teams in No. 7 Texas A&M  and No. 23 SMU, with the SMU loss being a true road game.

Many analysts underestimate the impact De’Anthony Melton has and how much it hurts USC not having him. Regardless, a loss is a loss. The Trojans have all the pieces for a Final Four run, they just have to put it together.

USC will have a chance to improve their resume with their remaining non-conference games against Oklahoma and potentially Miami. They can’t afford to lose their cupcake games versus UCSB, Santa Clara and Princeton either.

RPI-wise, Trojan Nation should be pulling for SMU and Texas A&M to continue having good years, so USC’s losses become easier for the committee to stomach.

One subplot to follow is that if USC can move up to a top five seed, it would potentially be a massive boon in their quest to make it to San Antonio. Most bracketologists have two of the No. 4 vs. 13 and No. 5 vs. 12 matchups being played in San Diego. The men of Troy would have a significant advantage playing their first games at an arena 125 miles down the I-5 instead of at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

Should they be granted the opportunity to play a couple of pseudo-home games, who would they play?

Potential Opponents

1. Missouri

2. SMU

More from Reign of Troy

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• USC football’s Alijah Vera-Tucker declares for NFL Draft
• USC football adds Xavion Alford as transfer from Texas
• 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

3. St. John’s

4. Virginia Tech

5. Michigan