USC Trojans Land in Another "Too Early" Top-25 Ranking
Expectations are rising for head coach Andy Enfield and his USC Trojans well ahead of the 2023-24 college basketball season. Gary Parrish of CBS Sports updated his Early Top 25 and 1 rankings on the heels of some major college basketball news on Tuesday as both Arizona and North Carolina landed major additions to their rosters for this coming year. But USC remains among the top teams in the country for Parrish, as well as the top team in the Pac-12 conference.
USC is the No. 13 team in the country according to Parrish’s early ranking.
Of the Trojans, Parrish said:
“This ranking is based on the Trojans returning four of the top seven scorers – Boogie Ellis, Kobe Johnson, Joshua Morgan and Vincent Iwuchukwu – from a team that won 22 games and secured a No. 10 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. USC is also enrolling two heralded guards – Isaiah Collier, the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2023, and Bronny James, the son of NBA legend LeBron James.”
USC Consistent in the Rankings
It’s pretty close to where USC came in on ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 Rankings two weeks ago. The Trojans were No. 14 there.
The top-15 spot in both rankings is a testament to the talent coming back and coming in. That’s especially true when considering the players the Trojans lost.
Thinking back to the middle of last season, it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where USC could lose Drew Peterson to eligibility, both Tre White and Reese Dixon-Waters to the transfer portal, and be seen as a better team afterward.
But that’s the case here. In these CBS rankings, the Trojans are sandwiched between basketball bluebloods Gonzaga at No. 13 and Kentucky at No. 14.
USC is also the top-ranked Pac-12 program in this too-early ranking. Arizona moved up five spots to No. 16 on the heels of adding North Carolina transfer guard Caleb Love. UCLA is the third Pac-12 team in the rankings, in at No. 22.
USC finished 22-11 last season, including 14-6 in conference play. The Trojans earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost their opening game to No. 7-seed Michigan State, 72-62.
