The Trojans have their first opponent of the Big Ten Tournament.
Sophomore guard JuJu Watkins and company will take on the Indiana Hoosiers in the quarterfinals to start off tournament play after earning the No. 1 overall seed and a first-round bye.
Here are five things you need to know about the Trojans’ matchup against the Hoosiers.
1. USC has already beaten Indiana this season
The Trojans have personal game film to fall back on heading into this matchup after USC took down Indiana back on January 19 with a seven-point road victory.
The Trojans only shot 39% from the floor in the January matchup against the Hoosiers, and it wasn’t an easy win by any means: both teams had four players score in double digits. This time around, each team will likely aim for a more consistent offensive performance.
The regular-season matchup was at Assembly Hall as part of a road trip for the Trojans, giving Indiana home-court advantage. USC will likely not have to play in as tough of an atmosphere — although Indianapolis is less than 60 miles away from Bloomington — and is 3-0 this season at neutral sites.
While the Trojans do have the seeding advantage, just two years ago the No. 11-seeded Oregon State Beavers upset head coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s squad in the Pac-12 Tournament. This is a much different team, however, and USC should face fewer struggles.
2. Indiana touts three All-Big Ten team members
On Tuesday, three Hoosiers were awarded spots on the 2024-2025 All-Big Ten teams. Junior guard Yarden Garzon was named to the second team, while graduate guards Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish each received an honorable mention.
The trio of Garzon, Moore-McNeil and Parrish combined for 41 points in Indiana’s 78-point performance and 16-point victory over Oregon to open up the tournament.
Perhaps the Trojans will pay special attention to Parrish since she notched a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) against them in January. But USC will also want to keep its eye on Garzon, who leads the Hoosiers in points per game (14.1) and was a major offensive force in the win against Oregon with 18.
3. The Trojans have their highest AP ranking since 1984
The last time USC dominated the rankings like it has this season, Apple was just getting its start, Prince and Madonna topped the charts, and Beverly Hills Cop was No. 1 in the box office. At least according to the media, the Trojans look better than they have in a long, long time.
During the 1984-85 season, the Trojans were coming off of their second and most recent national championship. USC hit that No. 2 AP spot on December 30, 1984, beating Texas the day before to secure a 9-0 record. The Trojans would then lose three of their next four and five of their next seven, finishing that season at 21-9 and falling in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The squad finished last season ranked No. 5 in the AP, but could not hit as high as No. 2 after ending its season in the Elite Eight.
4. The Hoosiers have an all-time losing record in the Big Ten Tournament
After the 78-62 win over Oregon, Indiana now has a 24-31 record in conference tourney. The Hoosiers are 3-4 in the Big Ten Tournament when they come in as the No. 9 seed, but will have to beat the No. 2 team in the country and No. 1 team in the tournament to break even with their record.
Indiana has been involved in multiple upsets involving the No. 1 seed across the past few years. Just two years ago, the Hoosiers earned the No.1 overall seed and beat No. 9-seeded Michigan State before falling to the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals. On the other side of it, Indiana beat the No. 1-seeded Ohio State the year prior after earning the No. 5 seed in the tournament.
Overall, Indiana has beaten the No. 1 seed three times across eight opportunities in the Big Ten Tournament since seeding was introduced to the tournament in 1995, giving the Hoosiers a strong 3-5 record against the top seed. The No. 1 seed has ended up winning the Big Ten Tournament 10 times in 30 tournaments since 1995, but the No. 2 seed has won it each of the past three seasons.
5. The Trojans are looking to win their second straight and third-ever conference tournament
USC is looking to become the first team to win both the Pac-12 and Big Ten Tournaments. The Trojans are technically the only team with the opportunity to do so, as UCLA won the Pac-12 Tournament in 2006 before the conference added Colorado and Utah to the ranks.
While USC came into last year’s Pac-12 Tournament as the No. 2 seed before upsetting the No. 1-seeded Stanford Cardinal, the Trojans secured the No. 1 seed for this year’s conference tournament.
The schedule is not nearly as difficult for lower-seeded teams as other conference tournaments, as USC did secure an extra day of rest over Indiana with its first-round bye. Those extra days of rest can be precarious, which the Trojans discovered last season when they were the No. 2 seed and only mustered a three-point win over the No. 7-seeded Arizona Wildcats.
The Trojans need to be wary of looking off the Hoosiers, but if they play their game, USC should be off the tournament quarterfinals.
Gottlieb’s squad will tip off Friday morning against Indiana at 9 a.m. on the West Coast. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.