Skip to main content

USC Trojans projected as No. 1 seed in latest bracketology

Erik-McKinneyby:Erik McKinney03/13/24

ErikTMcKinney

JuJu Watkins
USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) celebrates in the fourth quarter after defeating the UCLA Bruins at Galen Center. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)

The USC Trojans will officially find out their NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday, when the bracket reveal begins at 5 pm PT on ESPN. But it’s looking increasingly likely there will be a ton for head coach Lindsay Gottlieb and her program to celebrate.

ESPN’s updated bracketology has USC as a No. 1 seed now following the Trojans’ Pac-12 Tournament championship and win over Stanford in the final. Heading into that game, USC was a No. 2 seed in ESPN’s bracketology. Both UCLA and Stanford were No. 1 seeds for the Pac-12.

Now, USC and Stanford make up half of the four No. 1 seeds, along with overall No. 1 South Carolina and Iowa.

Each of the top four seeds in each region will host the first two rounds of the tournament. That means the Trojans have the potential to play two games in front of their home crowd at Galen Center before a potential trip to either the Portland regional or Albany regional. The women’s Final Four this year will be played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

Top 10

  1. 1

    Bowl insurance

    Historic policies for Hunter, Shedeur

    New
  2. 2

    Nick Saban endorsed

    Lane Kiffin suggests as commish

    Hot
  3. 3

    Diego Pavia

    Vandy QB ruling forces change

  4. 4

    Notre Dame takes shot

    Announcer trolls Fighting Irish

  5. 5

    Stephen A. Smith fires back

    Beef with Kirk Herbstreit continues

View All

First-round games are scheduled for March 22 and 23. Second-round games will take place March 24 and 25.

Looking at ESPN’s path for USC, the Trojans would open with a first-round game against No. 16 seed Hawaii. A win there would send USC on to play the winner of No. 21 UNLV and Iowa State. Also in the projected Portland 4 region are No. 2 Texas, No. 3 North Carolina State and No. 4 Indiana. Despite seven Pac-12 programs included in ESPN’s bracketology, USC is the only conference team in its region.

CBS Sports’ bracketology has USC in an even stronger position and the second-ranked No. 1 seed, just below South Carolina.

You may also like