USC men’s tennis team deserves more credit

I was browsing USCTrojans.com looking for column topics yesterday morning and saw the usual suspects: football, basketball, football and football.

But then I saw a headline that said “Trojan Tennis Takes on the World.” I was intrigued, mainly because I had forgotten all about USC tennis, specifically the men’s team. The Trojans have won four straight national championships. You’d think it’d be hard to forget about them, right?

Wrong.

Last season, USC featured Steve Johnson, who was the best player in school history and won two collegiate singles titles in addition to 72-straight match victories.

Johnson is no longer the big man on campus; he has graduated and is off to greener pastures. In his place stands Emilio Gomez. A lesser name for now, perhaps, but he is ranked No. 4 in the country in singles right now and has a great chance to win a national championship.

Despite the major turnover from last year (remember, the Trojans also lost Daniel Nguyen), USC is still ranked No. 4 in the country. They have a chance to win their fifth straight title. That’s amazing. And yet, no one is really listening.

It’s not the fault of anyone at USC — it’s just a fact that tennis isn’t a revenue sport and won’t ever be at the center of attention.

I hear someone arguing, “But everyone knows about USC water polo!” This is true. Water polo isn’t a revenue sport either. But it has a distinct advantage over tennis: It’s fun to watch.

With all due respect, collegiate tennis isn’t particularly riveting. Water polo, though, when done right, is incredibly entertaining. Last season’s national title match between USC and UCLA came down to the final minute. In comparison, I honestly can’t remember who the Trojans beat in the national title game to win the tennis title.

What men’s tennis head coach Peter Smith has done with the Trojans is incredible. The national champs from last year lost their two best players; can you imagine if the football team lost its two best players? Without Marqise Lee and Dion Bailey, for instance, a team that went 7-6 probably would have won four or five games. Keep in mind that the Trojans had 18 starters returning in 2012 and supposedly had its best players back. They still struggled.

Smith has managed to get the most out of his talent and, once again, has his team in contention.

USC will always be dominated by big-name sports. But it doesn’t mean we as sports fans should be oblivious to one of the greatest streaks in recent college sports history. USC’s men’s water polo team has won five straight national titles. Alabama football has won three out of the last four national titles. A long, long time ago, UCLA basketball won seven in a row. Other than those, there aren’t any runs in college sports that really come close to what the tennis squad has done.

So, the logical question is this: Where do we as fans go from here?

I’m not advocating we all watch every tennis match.

Other than being at the event itself, the only way to watch it is on the Pac-12 Network —and let’s be honest, no one gets that channel.

What we can do, however, is be supportive of the team and acknowledge what it has done over the last half-decade. And we can, in general, realize that USC has many other sports to offer other than those that make the most money.

In fact, its best sports hardly make any money. But that hasn’t stopped Smith and his squad from making the most of their opportunities. And from the looks of it, nothing will stop them from making more history, whether anyone is watching closely or not.

It’s time for us to do our duty and pay attention.

“Goal Line Stand” runs Fridays. To comment on this story, email Michael Katz at [email protected] or visit dailytrojan.com.