USC women’s basketball is a No. 8 seed in latest ESPN bracketology
The USC Trojans women’s basketball team is almost a lock to be in the NCAA Tournament after what has been a strong season from Lindsay Gottlieb’s team.
In the latest bracketology by ESPN expert Charlie Creme, USC is an 8-seed and facing Arkansas in the first round. The Trojans aren’t a lock just yet, but they’re close. Two wins might seal a bid, and three wins definitely should.
USC is now 17-6 on the season and 7-5 in the Pac-12. After a stunning win against Stanford, the Trojans became a team worth watching. They have lost two of the last four games, although those losses came to Utah and Arizona in a pair of tough games against ranked opponents. USC’s resume isn’t hurt by those losses; the Trojans merely missed chances to improve their seeding, but they’re not falling on the overall seed list.
The Trojans next face Oregon, Oregon State, and then a road trip to the Bay Area against Stanford and Cal. USC’s main task is to avoid getting swept in any of these next pairs of games. A split with the Oregon schools and a split in the Bay Area (beating Cal and losing to Stanford) would be perfectly fine in terms of making the NCAA Tournament, though USC would love to sweep the Oregon schools at home so that it could possibly move from an 8 seed to a 7 seed and avoid a heavyweight opponent in teh second round.
The Pac-12 as a whole has eight teams projected to make the field: Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Stanford, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington State.
The ACC, Big Ten, and SEC also have eight teams projected in the field of 68.
USC finishes the season with games against Washington and Washington State following the road trip to the Bay Area in mid-February, they have a manageable end to the regular season slate before the Pac-12 Tournament.
As of now, the Trojans should be feeling great about their chances to play in March Madness.
