This is one of the most anticipated college basketball seasons in USC history. The Trojans have very rarely had so much to look forward to on the basketball court. They had great teams in the first half of the 1970s under then-coach Bob Boyd. The early 1990s provided a lot of excitement thanks to Harold Miner, an electric player who gave USC basketball one of its most successful regular seasons in school history.
Yet, USC basketball has rarely reached great heights as a program. The school’s last Final Four was in 1954. The Trojans have been higher than a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament only one time, in 1992. They haven’t won the Pac-12 (Pac-10) regular-season championship since 1985. The trophy case is not stuffed.
This season, USC could actually do something special. The Trojans have one of their best rosters in recent memory. They hope Bronny James and Vince Iwuchukwu can get healthy and play significant minutes, but neither man will be available in the month of November, from all indications. This season could be amazing, but USC will need to be fortunate with health and player availability.
There’s a lot to talk about in the world of USC basketball, so we wanted an expert to give us a developed national perspective on the Trojans and the Pac-12. Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated is a foremost college basketball analyst and insider. He generously joined us for nearly an hour to look at USC’s roster, the Pac-12 Conference as a whole, the Kansas State opener on November 6, the USC-Gonzaga matchup on December 2, and a lot more.
It’s a special newsmaker edition of the Trojans Wired podcast. Our thanks to Kevin Sweeney for taking time out of his busy schedule to join us:
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