With the 2026-27 season just weeks away, both USC men’s and women’s basketball teams enter the new campaign with renewed hope after a disappointing end to last year. In fact, it could be the most optimistic both programs have been before the season in recent memory.
Leading scorers are healthy, returners should be improved and impressive recruiting and transfer classes can inject life into their squads. The external, national expectations around the USC teams are head-scratchingly high and, quite frankly, mind-boggling, given their underwhelming campaigns last year.
For women’s basketball, the return of superstar senior guard and former National Player of the Year JuJu Watkins automatically raises the Trojans’ ceiling.
The return of reigning National Freshman of the Year, sophomore guard Jazzy Davidson and elite defender, junior guard Kennedy Smith, along with the addition of No. 1 recruit Saniyah Hall and prized international acquisitions Sitaya Fagan and Sara Okeke, has put women’s basketball in position to contend seriously for a national championship. Projected as No. 1 in USA Today’s Way-Too-Early women’s college basketball rankings, they begin the season as one of the favorites to cut down the nets come early April.
“So many great additions to the team, and then we have our returners as well,” Watkins said during a June media availability. “I’m super excited; I think the main thing is just continuing to build our culture, discipline, and really just attacking every day.”
It might take some time to integrate all the pieces, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Former guard Kara Dunn, second on the team in points per game last year, graduated, leaving a significant scoring void.
There are still plenty of mouths to feed on offense, however, and head coach Lindsay Gottlieb may have her hands full trying to get everyone involved while also trying to maximize Watkins’ impact to elevate the team’s potential.
The early games in the preseason schedule give the Trojans time to experiment with different lineup combinations to evaluate how to best cater to the high-level skill sets of all USC’s starters.
But, the Trojans do have some significant tests ahead of Big Ten play that will serve as a barometer of where the squad stacks up against last season’s best.
A mid-November battle with South Carolina in the return of ‘The Real SC’ game in Greenville, and matchups against historically top programs Notre Dame and Duke at the Players Era Showcase in Las Vegas may determine the legitimacy of USC’s Final Four aspirations.
Challenges await the Trojans in the deep, talented Big Ten, currently set to play a 12-game slate against projected top-25 teams, along with two rivalry tilts against vulnerable yet impossible-to-count-out defending national champions UCLA.
USC was 4-9 against ranked teams last season. If they are real NCAA tournament contenders, it’s unreasonable to expect a winning record against such teams this season.
The first portion of the conference schedule is fairly manageable, but the competition intensifies for the back half. USC faces a beast of a late-season schedule, including marquee home contests against Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois and Ohio State.
The challenge doesn’t let up on the road with trips to Iowa and Oregon in the season’s final weeks. The Trojans, 3-8 on the road last year, must improve away from home to make any noise in March. A decisive win over the Hawkeyes in February could be the statement victory USC needs to build confidence and successfully adapt to a hostile, loud and energetic road atmosphere.
Make no mistake, the talent is there. But, the Trojans need to put it all together to reach new heights. There is no denying what the players themselves are capable of achieving. The squad looks unbeatable on paper and it’s tempting to start looking too far ahead. If the team gels early, USC will be in excellent shape to reach the program’s first Final Four in over 40 years.
“We have established our standards,” Gottlieb said during a June media availability. “We talk about our habits every day. We’re certainly not shying away from the exciting expectations that lie in front of us, but our day-to-day is about getting better as individual players, getting better as a team, [and] building chemistry on and off the court.”
On the men’s side, despite limping to the finish line, ending last season on an eight-game losing skid and finishing well outside the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Trojans are not only expected to improve and make the tournament but to be among the top dozen teams in the nation this season.
“Talent level is at a different spot than it has been,” head coach Eric Musselman said during a June media availability. “We were able to get what we feel is a good, competitive [transfer group]. We felt like an area we had to get better at was retaining really good players, and I think we’ve done that.”
The Trojans now have five former McDonald’s All-Americans on the roster, including sophomore standout guard Alijah Arenas and top recruit, freshman forward Christian Collins. The infusion of senior guard Rodney Rice, the team’s leading scorer before his season-ending injury last December, gives USC a formidable starting lineup, especially in the backcourt.
“[The freshmen] bring a lot of versatility. They can all shoot the ball. They’re high motor,” Rice said during a June media availability. “We’re going to have a lot of size this season.”
The first few Big Ten contests, favorable matchups against Washington and Oregon, should give the Trojans a prime opportunity to gain momentum in conference play. Yet even with a retooled roster and a fresh outlook this season, USC does not have the luxury to take any teams lightly.
While the Trojans struggled against elite teams, numerous unacceptable losses to inferior opponents tanked their season. USC lost to Washington three times and also to Oregon and Northwestern, all teams that finished tied with or below the Trojans in Big Ten standings.
They can ill-afford to make the same mistake this year, and it all starts with setting the tone early and establishing a standard of play for the rest of the season versus the two former Pac-12 foes from the northwest.
USC’s conference schedule features six games against projected top-30 teams, including home showdowns with Michigan State and defending national champions Michigan, along with road bouts against Purdue and Illinois, fresh off its Final Four appearance.
The Trojans were abysmal last season against the top Big Ten teams. USC was outscored by a combined 59 points against the Michigan schools, and also lost to the Fighting Illini by 36 on their home floor.
It may sound obvious, but it bears repeating: The Trojans must fare better against the nation’s best teams. They can’t — and won’t — win every big game, but they should be competitive. They don’t deserve to be considered a legitimate tournament threat if they still get embarrassed on the biggest stage.
The Trojans had chances to beat top-15 teams Purdue and Nebraska in the closing minutes, but botched end-of-game situations and blew leads in the most excruciating ways possible. Closing out games needs to be another key priority this season, and how Trojans handle tight situations could dictate their fate.
USC has a road-heavy start to its Big Ten slate, including the conference’s only four-game road trip. In that stretch, the Trojans travel to The Hoosier State to face the Boilermakers and Indiana in a pair of swing games that could prove pivotal and hold massive postseason implications.
However, USC won’t have to do much travelling once February begins. Musselman’s group doesn’t play consecutive road games after January, leaving the Pacific time zone just once to play Nebraska, with seven of the Trojans’ final nine regular season contests in Los Angeles.
Last year the team ended 7-13 in the Big Ten. That won’t cut it this season, even with the expanded 74-team field. Arenas now has a half-season of college basketball experience under his belt, the team recruited both promising and proven talent, and the returning players are healthy. There are no more excuses — it’s time to translate an impressively assembled roster into on-court success.
There’s reason for excitement, no doubt, but it’s not a foregone conclusion. The preseason hype feels like déjà vu, from a season ago and even from Musselman’s first campaign with the Cardinal and Gold. The only question remaining is whether this season will be any different.
It has to be seen to believe. Only time will tell.
Edited by Adriana Brady, Brooke Lordino and Sammie Vassallo