USC has only made it to three Elite Eights in its entire history (1940, ’54, ’01) and only two final fours — where it lost to BRADLEY in ’54 (I was two years old), and to KU in ’40. USC’s only played KU once in the NCAA’s, and that was in ’40, when the Jayhawks squeezed by the Trojans 43-42.
USC’s overall record in the NCAA’s is a losing 14-19 (12-17 including NCAA vacated appearances).
DRAKE (Des Moines, Iowa) has a combined record of 6-4 in the NCAAs, with three Sweet Sixteen appearances (’69, ’70, ’71) and also three Elite Eights, where it beat CSU in ’69, 84-77, beat HOU in ’70, 92-77, and beat ND 79-72 in ’71.
UCLA eventually beat charter Missouri Valley Conference member DRAKE in ’69’s Final Four, 82-85, but the Bulldogs won 3rd place by pummeling UNC 104-84.
From 1969-71 was DRAKE’s time to shine, after which it dropped off the basketball map. This will only be DRAKE’s third NCAA game since they lost to KU 73-71 in the Elite Eight in ’71.
It should be an exciting, unpredictable game today, with both USC and DRAKE desperately looking to finally make a mark in March Madness, following years of futility for both schools.
But USC has the wonderful, massively wing-spanned, soon-to-be NBAer Evan Mobley … and Andy Enfield’s Trojans, a 6.5 point fave, seem to be under a large amount of pressure to win in Round 1.
Most everyone seems to think the USC Trojans can literally win, or lose, any game it plays on the hardwood — except no one, not even Barack Obama, thinks USC can beat GONZAGA.
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