No. 1 seed USC enters women’s NCAA tournament with championship expectations
USC star JuJu Watkins and the Trojans enter the NCAA tournament with the expectation they will reach the Final Four and compete for a national title. (Mark J. Terrill / AP)
Ryan Kartje/Mirjam Swanson (LA Times/OC Register) — When USC rose last March to the top line of the NCAA tournament, after almost four decades in relative obscurity, it felt at the time like the culmination of a once-proud program’s stirring return to relevance.
But a year later, standing atop the tournament field for a second straight season, no one is looking at the top-seeded Trojans as a charming upstart any longer.
USC once again earned a No. 1 seed, this time in the Spokane regional, and will host No. 16 seed UNC Greensboro (25-6) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday. If the Trojans win, they will face the winner of No. 8 Cal (25-8) vs. No. 9 Mississippi State (21-11) on Monday.
Where USC entered March last season as a program on the rise, just hoping to crash the party featuring the sport’s more established powerhouses, the Trojans now enter this tournament with not just Final Four aspirations, but expectations.
USC hasn’t made a Final Four since 1986, when Cheryl Miller and Co. lost to Texas in the national title game.
The Trojans have had little trouble delivering on towering expectations so far this season, led by sophomore superstar and Big Ten Player of the Year JuJu Watkins. They lost just two games in the regular season — once in November, the other in February — to teams now seeded among the top two in their respective regions.
USC enters this tournament coming off a loss after falling to UCLA in the Big Ten tournament final last weekend. But the Trojans had already beaten their crosstown rivals twice before that to secure a Big Ten regular season title, the first in their new conference.
USC star JuJu Watkins reacts to getting a slap on the behind from former USC star Cheryl Miller after scoring against rival UCLA on March 1. (Mark J. Terrill / AP)
Last March, as a No. 1 seed for the first time since that 1985-86 season, USC rolled into the Elite Eight, only to run into a buzzsaw in Connecticut, a program that had been to the Final Four in 14 of the previous 15 years.
But USC has even more firepower at its disposal in this tournament, having added an All-Big Ten forward in Kiki Iriafen, as well as the nation’s top recruiting class, to join with Watkins.
Still, USC Ends Up With Obviously Disrespectful #1 Seed
What irked Trojan coach Lindsay Gottlieb, and rightly so, was that out of the four No. 1 seeds, the Trojans fell to the fourth.
Ahead of them, No. 1 overall seed UCLA, “as they should be,” Gottlieb stressed.
But the Bruins were immediately followed by South Carolina and Texas, even though USC beat UCLA two of three times this season and South Carolina lost to the Bruins 77-62.
And even though South Carolina lost by 29 points to UConn, which USC beat in a non-conference showdown in Connecticut.
And even though Texas, like USC, lost to Notre Dame and also lost to South Carolina twice.
How USC slipped behind both of those teams is a mystery.
“I don’t understand people who make decisions in women’s basketball and why they do what they do, none of it makes sense to me,” said Gottlieb, who wasn’t just perplexed but admittedly and surprisingly agitated – and speaking for a whole lot of us.”
Any of us who looked at the bracket and immediately saw, among whatever other bracket-building shenanigans got revealed, a particularly heinous affront to women’s basketball’s growing audience.
Sitting at No. 2 in USC’s corner of the bracket: UConn.
That means we’re going to lose either Watkins, everyone’s national player of the year, or Paige Bueckers, one of the game’s biggest and most-beloved stars and presumptive No. 1 pick in the next WNBA Draft, before the Final Four.
“Wouldn’t you think they’d want the best television ratings in Tampa at the Final Four,” asked Gottlieb?
It was a rhetorical question, but I’ll answer it anyway: Yes! Yes, we sure would! Especially when that’s what is merited.
“This is not an arrogance of any kind, there’s a lot of really good teams,” Gottlieb said, with a nod to a field that doesn’t feature a single undefeated or even a one-loss team for just the second time in 19 years. “And you have to play the first game in front of you and earn your way from there.”
But, really: “This was not on my bingo card. I don’t like being disrespected.”
“If there’s a little extra motivation for a team that’s already a No. 1 seed,” Gottlieb said, “we’re gonna have it.”
latimes.com / ocregister.com
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Playing UConn women is a whole new ballgame from playing MSU or KSU. Gottlieb knows very well the lady Trojans have to play top of their ability and few very few errors. Not saying it can’t be done, but Gotlief must keep the flow of the game under control meaning if it appears UConn is pulling away, she has to call timeouts and quickly. Hoping the team has an effective game plan and executes it. If JuJu was still playing I would feel the teams are equal if not USC favored.
The BIG goes 8-0 in the first round of the NCAA men. Historic. The top 32 are 1/4 BIG.
Can Lincoln Riley, the “Punching Bag”, Earn Back Lost Respect? Question from The Athletic— How much weight do you give to very close wins and losses by a team when you evaluate their season? Lincoln Riley is this offseason’s punching bag, but when you look at last season, all of USC’s losses were close. The Trojans were leading in the fourth quarter in five of six games. Whereas Illinois is getting all the love and could have very easily had three more losses to Nebraska, Purdue and Rutgers. Stewart Mandel — It’s a legit point. Many statisticians would tell you… Read more »
Unfortunately for Riley he does not have a personality that creates teflon. For example…..Reagan could do practically anything and with a wink, a story or a joke disarm his critical opponents. Riley does not seem to have that ability. He is dry…..at least it seems. Maybe people who know him very well see a different person. All coaches live or die with their record but……an extra year or two can be extracted from a bad record with some grease. Maybe he doesn’t care because of his contract. For him it’s all about wins. Once his cash wall falls it’s all… Read more »
Illinois, Kif was trying with all his energy to keep the football program from completely falling apart. You could tell he was eat-drink-sleep and nothing else football. He gave his soul to the program recruiting against the World and using what talent he had on the field. I felt so sorry for him getting such a raw deal but it’s what he wanted. Remember, he left Tennessee at MGs request to come back home and save USC football. Only to have Haden & Nikias kick him out. To me this was such a wrong, especially from Haden who knew football… Read more »
I think Haden personally wanted to keep Kiffin, but he didn’t have the guts, or the power, to stop the firing squad from cutting him loose. It was a bad move, one of so many since Pete Carroll bolted.
Has Nikias finally been kicked out of his on-campus office? What a turd he was….
AI Overview/Internet — Yes, Max Nikias still has an office on the USC campus, as he is a tenured professor and holds the Malcolm R. Currie Chair in Technology and the Humanities, while also serving as President Emeritus and Life Trustee.
We keep being reminded how close the final scores were in many games last season. But do they also note USC had the lead in most of those games going into the 4th quarter but couldn’t keep it? Part of Riley being the punching bag was his playcalling ignoring the ability of the offense to run the ball effectively and called pass plays that failed. Riley refused to swallow the ball running it and the clock out. That had a bearing on the loses to teams like Minnesota, Maryland, Penn St. and yes even Michigan later in the game when… Read more »
Anyone who follows USC football objectively understands that Lincoln Riley had a very bad year in 2024 calling plays. He made a lot of regrettable choices, leaned into his Air Raid proclivity way too much, and the Trojans paid for it on the field. He obviously didn’t adjust particularly well to his first year in the more physical B1G, and D’Anton Lynn’s defense also suffered as a result of that. I have to believe LR intends to redirect his offensive play calling towards a stronger, more threatening running game and a more consistent passing attack. He’s got the talent and… Read more »
Thinking he is smart enough or honest enough to know his playcalling put the team at a disadvantage last season may or may not overcome his worst adversary…..his air raid stubborness?
Andrew Luck keeps quiet, for now, regarding investigations of Stanford coach Troy Taylor Mile Florio (msn.com) — Andrew Luck might be wondering what he’s gotten himself into. The former Colts quarterback, who shocked the football-following world with a sudden retirement in August 2019, became the G.M. of the Stanford football program last year. And he already has a mess on his hands. As reported by Xuan Thai of ESPN.com, Stanford has conducted two investigations regarding the conduct of football coach Troy Taylor. The first ended in February 2024, with Taylor signing a warning letter. The second ended in July 2024. Taylor, per… Read more »
We’re going to get a lot of really good O-Linemen in the 2026 class. Hopefully this new O-Line coach turns out to be a really good O-Line coach. I was hoping they would go out and bring in a top notch O-Line coach but maybe this guy will work out.
Commitments So far, both since Chad Bowden took over as GM:
4 * Esun Tafa, IOL, 6-4, 305, Draper Corner Canyon, UT
3* John Fifita, IOL, 6-6, 350, Mountain View St. Francis, CA
Yeah but there are 10 other O-Linemen who they are high in the race for.
I posted those two very early 2026 OL commits (as part of USC’s fantastic 15-member #1 recruiting class) as a strong positive.
Now that Chad Bowden and his sterling new recruiting/operations staff are in charge, I have no doubt USC will hold onto this newfound recruiting stature (Iike the old days), which is now smartly backed up by a refocused effort on Calif and the west, areas where USC has a much better crack at dominating.
#1 USC already has nine four-star commits! UCLA, ranked #34, has a measly two.
This USC football team has as many good recruiters as anyone in the country. Even before Chad Bowden came on ship they were good. To go down to places like Georgia and steal some of their best athletes from right under their noses and bring them across the country was an acomplishment even if they couldn’t hold on to them.
The problem with recruiting guys who don’t stick, especially from states far away and near other top-level programs, is that it throws your entire recruiting plan out of whack. You face the inevitable reality of counting on commitments that suddenly leave you with big holes in your class. That requires a lot of scrambling. This is especially harmful when the decommits occur late and involve top talent targets. You end up trying to reverse field on replacements who are either upset they are your leftovers, don’t appreciate that approach, have NIL deals in place, or they are already committed to… Read more »
I agree that it is better to stay closer to home in recruiting. I’m just saying that even before Bowden came on the scene SC had good recruiters. You have to be good to go across country to states that have powerhouse programs and steal players in their backyard that they want and bring them across the country to commit to your school even if they later de-commit.But surely Chad Bowden was icing on the cake.
What you say is very true Allen. You run the risk of alienating your bread & butter market, your local back yard, going after out of reach talent that should be “ we have nothing to lose” recruits rather than “we have everything to lose” if it doesn’t pan out. If LR’s attitude was this is USC and we should go after the best recruits no matter where in the beginning when he got here, that’s healthy enough. But still you start in your backyard in recruiting and go from there. He may have underestimated the damage done the previous… Read more »
— What The Athletic’s Manny Navarro learned from studying 2,300 transfers in the college football portal window — Plus/minus winners If you go by which programs signed the most top-100 players (per 247Sports), Miami (eight), LSU (seven), Texas Tech (six), Oregon (five), Ole Miss (four), North Carolina (four) and Texas A&M (four) were the biggest winners. On the flip side, Purdue (six), Florida State (four), USC (four), Kentucky (four) and Georgia (four) lost the most top-100 players. If gaining starting experience is more your thing, these four programs led the way in net career starts added: Arizona (230), Missouri (215),… Read more »
What we have learned for the past three years, no matter who LR brought in from the portal, he called the same plays at the same times, losing leads and wasting timeouts and mismanaging the clock at the end of games. LR has a one-track mind it seems. He only knows one thing. Pass pass pass even when his running plays isn’t being stopped that will keep the ball away from the opponent. But give it back he does with enough time left in the game for the opponent to score and win the game. He himself puts his defense… Read more »
This is exactly what this season is all about…..the roster is good enough to win 8, 9 or possibly 10……but I agree with you……will Riley use what he has intelligently or pull another series of hard farts. His inability to adapt might not change. We’ll see.
The stage has clearly been set by Jen Cohen and Chad Bowden for Lincoln Riley to finally begin performing as he was originally hired to do. Hope he grabs the brass ring. I agree that eight reg season wins should be a bottom-line standard for 2025. I actually think nine or ten is more likely, but we’ve got possible QB problems if inconsistent Jayden Maiava runs into rough weather which appears possible. As I see it, he’s a hugely mysterious element for USC football this season. Of course, I predicted an eight-win reg season last year for USC and was… Read more »
All of us are always guessing wrong…..nice to see your human and honest. John’s betting pool is an exercise in humility…..LOL. Jayden M……IMO some of his passes last year turned out great but….could have been really bad. He was lucky. Others were bad. Let’s hope he figures it out. His level of talent might have been on display and that is all he has to give. If so the fresh will be playing mid season and hold on to your seats for that. If not USC might have a good year……good in the sense of respectable but short of elite.… Read more »
Right now, Jen Cohen and Chad Bowden are irreplaceable. The quick impact they have had on USC football is remarkable.
I agree that 2026 could be really special. But we’ve all felt the “really special” season could be coming many times since Pete Carroll left. (at least I have). Though that expectation has proven to be remarkably elusive, having gone through so many different problems.
But so far at least, 2025 has been an exhilarating off-season time for a vastly restructured USC football. I’ll take it!
Anything is better than the ice cream truck!
It’s easy to say this now after the fact, but if Haden had refused to fire Kiffin (remember, Nikias knew Haden was doing him a favor taking the AD job he didn’t want and might have backed away) things could have easily be different today as Kif would have gotten the football program back on its feet. The big mistake in all of this, Kif was the right hire and was proving it during the sanction years he was here…………….. but was fired! Kiffin knew he was going to turn the program around, he knew it. That’s why he argued… Read more »
The uber-Draconian sanctions were so ridiculously bad, no coach could have been too successful right off the bat. Also, no other coach wanted the job post-Carroll while in NCAA prison.
Folks that had been spoiled by the record CPC provided and did not have much understanding of just how bad the sanctions were forced the issue. It was a time that demanded a powerful leader to stand up and wrap his arm around Kiffin and state….he is staying. The way to do it would have been to provide him a 12 year contract with a 100 million dollar buyout.
Sound familiar? Somebody wanted Riley to stay…..hopefully it will turn out….but I am not prepared to say I believe.
USC Football 2025 Spring Positional Preview: Offensive Line USC returns two starters on its offensive line this spring, left tackle Elijah Paige and guard Alani Noa. Connor Morrissette (USCFootball.com) — USC will have to replace its starting left guard, center and right tackle next season. Syracuse transfer J’Onre Reed will take over at center for Jonah Monheim. But the two other positions aren’t set in stone heading into spring camp. Purdue transfer DJ Wingfield played right guard last season, but he also has experience at right tackle. If Wingfield plays right guard, that would move Noa to left guard. Returner Tobias Raymond is the most likely to… Read more »
Lots of questions and moving parts……but in this age of the portal……who doesn’t. At least there is no talk of starting freshmen and the starters are experienced. We will see how Riley uses them.
If the House settlement is approved this spring — Many schools plans to divide its revenue share pool of $20.5 million based on the House settlement’s back-damage distribution formula: 75% to football ($13.5 million); 15% to men’s basketball ($2.7 million); 5% to women’s basketball ($900,000); and 5% to all other sports ($900,000).
Further if the House settlement is approved there will be a cap on NIL spending and a watchdog committee will be created to enforce the NIL spending cap.
Former NFL QB Rodney Peete snags foul ball from Dodgers’ Max Muncy in viral moment Camden Markel (NYPost.com) — With a chance to make a tremendous play on a pop-up deep into foul territory, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy’s attempt was spurned by a fan making a smooth catch with a glove of his own. But it wasn’t just any fan inside the Tokyo Dome. . Former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete was donning Los Angeles gear when he casually stuck his glove out and made the catch while Muncy crashed into the stands and just missed on the play. It looked… Read more »
oops!
The Associated Press 2024-25 All-America women’s basketball team with statistics through regular-season and conference tournaments: First Team *JuJu Watkins, USC, Sophomore; Los Angeles, California: 24.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists (31 first-place votes, 155 points) *Paige Bueckers, UConn, Senior, Hopkins, Minnesota: 19.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists (31, 155) *Lauren Betts, UCLA, Junior; Centennial, Colorado; 19.6 points, 9.7 rebounds, 63.4 Field Goal% (31, 155) Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame, Sophomore; Merchantville, New Jersey: 24.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists (29, 151) Madison Booker, Texas, Sophomore; Ridgeland, Mississippi: 16.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists (14, 121) (asterisk)-unanimous selection Second Team Aneesah Morrow,… Read more »
Find a Star and They Will Come. USC Women Outdraw the Men. —The USC men averaged just over 5,000 fans per game in Eric Musselman’s debut season, 1,200 fewer per game than last year under Andy Enfield — Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — That’s not ideal. But there’s some important context required. USC had its highest per-game attendance in a decade during the 2023-24 season. This year’s average of 5,074 per game is actually the second-highest attendance rate of the last decade. Musselman lamented not doing enough to engage fans, and I do think more can be done. But the most… Read more »
Welcome home after 286 days! 2:57 PT. Precision personafied.
A one week trip turns into 9 1/2 months! Reminds me of Gilligan’s Island, just a 3 hour tour… Fortunately, the ISS doesn’t have a Gilligan or Dr. Zachary Smith on board.
Musk played a role in getting these astronauts back, but he is still hated by the left.And I thought they liked electric vehicles! Maybe Elon could win them over by flying a Hamas flag and advocating for men sharing locker rooms with women.
The governor of West Virginia makes a speech with a sign…….. National Corrupt Athletic Association and states it was a crime that WV was not invited…….
My question…..where you been.
Patrick James Morrisey is the 37th governor of West Virginia. Morrisey took office on January 13, 2025.
I like this guy’s characterization of the evil, Draconian, shameful NCAA. He is just calling it like it is, regardless of whether the Mountaineers deserved an invite or not.
It’s simply another politician’s way to sound off to curry the favor of voters in his State. His campaign director probably gave the Gov the words to read.
That’s some curry that tastes just fine. I’ll have what he’s having!
Perhaps, but if there is a more inept, or corrupt institution than the NCAA , I haven’t seen it. Good for Gov. Morrisey.
For a pol, Morrissey is a good one….
The 2025 NCAA Women’s Final Four will be played April 4 and 6 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
(Chloe Zola / For The LA Times)
USC mailbag: Why does this USC program still lack an identity? Question — Is it right to say the team lacks an identity? If so, how much does this impact recruiting and game planning? It seems most positions are at best a “B,” with many performing at a “C” or lower. I don’t even know where to start for creating an identity and successful niche for game planning. Antonio Morales (The Athletic) — In my opinion, it lacks an identity. What’s the program’s calling card? What is it elite at? The best thing the team did last year was run… Read more »
LR says one thing at pressers giving people what he thinks they want to hear, but it isn’t what he actually has in mind and intends to do. Anyone want to disagree with that? And in this same ideology, he pulled the same thing in his meeting with Bowden about how excited he was in recruiting instate athletes? Really? What I think is happening, LR is maneuvering his way with this new support cast Jen has hired in covering his behind while believing he still knows how to force a round peg into a square hole with the air raid… Read more »
Don’t you know Jamaica, the air raid will work in the Big Ten or any other college conference. All you need is NFL talent. With vastly superior talent any play you call will likely work. It is not LR’s playbook, he just needs better talent to execute it…he will never have enough talent to overcome his flawed strategy.
The problem is GT, when you have his level of contract and don’t win enough, you learn to lie just like Jumbo Fisher and probably Brian Kelly. When you win like Saban you look straight into anyone’s eyes and tell it like it is and dare anyone to say something negative.
USC mailbag: What made the Trojans finally pay attention to local talent? Question — What do you think was the contributing factor to the (long overdue) shift back toward local and in-state recruiting? Was it Chad Bowden stating the obvious in his interview, a push from above from AD Jennifer Cohen or did Lincoln Riley himself finally recognize the folly of ignoring all the talent in his backyard? Antonio Morales (The Athletic) — It was probably a mix of everything. I wonder if there was a lesson that came from the 2025 recruiting cycle. USC chased high-profile, out-of-state prospects… Read more »
I’m hoping after losing to UCLA (with key players ill) and the diss by the seeding will give the Trojans an angry chip on their shoulder. They have first two games at home with unranked teams. Gottlieb should try to get Juju and Kiki to spread the ball around in those games. Next is either the #13 or #19 ranked team, Kentucky or Kansas St. That will be followed up with 3rd ranked UConn. UConn will have to get by Oklahoma or Iowa. Fairy Tale story set up if USC can beat Texas in the final to win it all… Read more »
I am hoping it ends up USC/usc. (So Carolina)