Men’s basketball remains outside Top 25 rankings


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The previously surging men’s basketball team took a step back with its 80-69 loss at the hands of Utah on Sunday, with the Utes snapping the Men of Troy’s historic 15-game win streak at home.

Despite being ranked nationally in January and February, the Trojans are not in the AP Top 25 Poll for the second consecutive week after losing three of their past four games to Arizona State, Arizona and Utah to rank fifth in the Pac-12 with an 8-6 record.

The Men of Troy were given  two votes in the top 25 this week and are still projected by many to make the NCAA tournament.

USC joins Arizona (No. 9), Oregon (No. 13), Utah (No. 22) and Cal (34 votes) as the five Pac-12 teams to earn votes in the AP Top 25 Poll. According to CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm’s projected bracket, the Pac-12 is tied with the ACC, the Big 12 and the Big 10 with seven potential tournament bids.

While earning a seed in the tournament should be an easy task considering USC has two home games left, the strength of their seeding could be compromised by their next two contests against Stanford and Cal on the road.

This season, the Trojans hold a 3-5 record on the road, losing by an average margin of 13.6 points, which truly illustrates the effect that a Pac-12 home court advantage can play. The combined home record of the top six teams in the Pac-12 stands at 93-4 with just two teams holding undefeated records.

USC’s next two opponents, the  Cardinal and Golden Bears, have a combined 26-5 home record with the 16-0 Bears defeating the likes of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Oregon by an average margin of victory of 12, including a 20-point stomping of Oregon more than a week ago.

While Stanford holds an unimpressive 13-12 overall and 6-8 conference record, the Cardinal have downed Oregon, Utah and Cal at home.

If USC can finally break out of its road slump, a run at the Pac-12 Championship could be within reach for a program which hasn’t reached the NCAA tournament since 2008.

Not to mention, with home wins against Oregon and Oregon State on March 2 and 5, the Trojans could see themselves once again in the AP Top 25 poll and in good position for a deep tournament run.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that USC lost to Utah 80-68. It was 80-69. The Daily Trojan regrets the error.