Pac-12 Tournament now key to USC Basketball’s NCAA Tournament hopes

Winning multiple games in the Pac-12 Tournament is now key to USC Basketball’s NCAA Tournament hopes after losing to UCLA on Saturday.

On Saturday night, USC Basketball had the chance to greatly strengthen their NCAA Tournament resume as the regular season came to a close. Instead, by losing to UCLA 83-72, the Trojans put their postseason plans in jeopardy.

Now everything rests on a strong showing in the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.

That’s a tough place to be in considering the Trojans have won more than 20 games for the third year in a row, finished second in the conference for the first time in more than a decade and boast an RPI ranking of 35th.

USC’s tournament resume lags behind others because of the new quadrant system in college basketball. Each team’s resume is split into four Quadrants based on level of difficult. The strength of the opposing team, as well as venue, are taken into account. For instance, a Quadrant 1 victory would include home games against a team ranked in the Top 30 of RPI, but also teams ranked in the Top 75 for games on the road.

As it stands, USC has four Quadrant 1 wins: two on the road against Utah and Oregon and two on a neutral court against Middle Tennessee State and New Mexico State.

Adding another Quadrant 1 win would go a long way to improving the resume the Trojans put before the selection committee. Their last chance to add another value win is in the Pac-12 Tournament.

As the second-place team in the conference, USC secured a first round bye. Their first game will come on Thursday, March 8 against the winner of Washington vs. Oregon State.

A neutral site win in the quarterfinal round over Washington or Oregon State would only do so much though. The Huskies would count as a Quadrant 2 win while a win over the Beavers would stick in Quadrant 3.

It may not be enough.

That means only a second Pac-12 Tournament victory would really boost the Trojans’ resume. Should Utah advance by Oregon or Washington State, the Utes could supply USC with a much-needed Quadrant 1 win (At best, because of the lower value of neutral site wins, the Ducks would be Quadrant 2 or the Cougars Quadrant 3).

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If they achieved any two wins, USC would be in the position to punch a ticket there and then in the Pac-12 Tournament Championship Game where their mettle would likely be tested by an Arizona squad which beat them easily in Tucson or a UCLA squad which just completed the season sweep. Hoisting the trophy would be the easiest path to more postseason possibilities, but just getting to that stage would put the Trojans on more even footing than they currently stand.

USC’s questionable status as Selection Sunday is of their own making. The Trojans let advantages slip away on the road versus UCLA and Arizona State. A win in either of those games would have greatly changed the resume conversation. They also lost a heartbreaking buzzer beater to at Stanford, another Quadrant 1 victory to slip through their grasp.

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But Andy Enfield’s squad can still avoid disaster by delivering in the clutch and picking up at least two victories in Las Vegas.

If they stumble, their fate will very much be in question come Selection Sunday.