USC Bracketology: Final Projections

USC now await their NCAA Tournament fate. Saturday night the Trojans came up short on earning an automatic bid against Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament Final. Despite losing to Arizona, USC might have secured their spot into the NCAA Tournament with a deep run in the Pac-12 Tournament. Everything is now in the selection committee hands and by 3 PM Pacific the Trojans will find out if they’re in or out. Before the Selection Show, we look at the different bracket projects to see if the Trojans are indeed in or out. All of the brackets are updated as of March 11th.

CBS Sports: First Four Out- Jerry Palm of CBS Sports have the Trojans out of the NCAA Tournament. This is a project that has a lot of people confused as the Trojans resume plus a deep run in the Pac-12 Tournament and a second place finish in the Pac-12 would be enough to place USC in the NCAA Tournament, however Palm doesn’t believe that it’ll be enough to put the Trojans in.

ESPN: 10 seed in the Midwest Region- Joe Lunardi of ESPN has something that Trojan fans can get behind. Lunardi has USC as a 10 seed in the Midwest region of his projected bracket. There they would face the Arkansas Razorbacks (Projected 7 seed). This could end up being a likely and best scenario for USC. This gets them into the field without playing in the First Four games in Dayton, Ohio.

Fox Sports: 10 seed in the West region- Fox Sports Howie Schawb also has USC as a 10 seed facing 7 seeded Arkansas, however he has them in the in the west region. USC have switched between the 10 and 11 seed in Schwab’s bracket, but after the Pac-12 Tournament final, the Trojans should firmly keep themselves at a 10 seed. A 10 seed will be something many USC fans will accept at this point.

USA Today: 10 Seed in the Midwest region- USA Today has USC as a 10 seed in the Midwest region. In their bracket the Trojans projected opponent would be Nevada, who is having a pretty solid season themselves. Right now the trend seems to be that many see the Trojans as a 10 seed. This is an improvement compared to the last few days where USC was in the First Four games in Dayton. We now wait to see what the selection committee put USC and if they agree with the analyst’s projections.