The UCLA Bruins, kind and generous souls that they are, helped out the USC Trojans on Saturday.
That obviously wasn’t their goal, but it certainly brightened USC’s otherwise-dark day.
The Trojans stepped on a rake in Corvallis, losing to lowly Oregon State and significantly hurting their chances of making the NCAA Tournament. An 0-2 week in the state of Oregon was the last thing USC needed. The Trojans’ bubble position is now far more precarious, and they’re in real trouble at the moment.
Yet, as bad as this week was for USC, it could have been worse. Oregon — with a win over UCLA on Saturday night in Eugene — would have passed USC in the Pac-12 bubble pecking order. Yes, the Ducks have more losses on their slate, but they would have had wins over both UCLA and Arizona to offset those losses, plus a head-to-head win over USC and a sweep of Utah, which the Trojans don’t yet have (USC is at Utah in two weeks).
Thankfully for the Trojans, UCLA was there to help the Trojans. The Bruins dominated the second half and pulled away thanks to 25 points and 12 rebounds from Jaime Jaquez.
Yes, USC can forget about the Pac-12 title after this week, but we know that was never likely. It’s all about getting into the NCAA Tournament. UCLA beating Oregon was definitely the better outcome for USC on Saturday. We’ll have more on the Pac-12 bubble in our Sunday and Monday coverage of Pac-12 hoops.
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