USC Pac-12 championship hopes receive fatal blow, but Trojans still 2nd in the conference

The USC Trojans’ Pac-12 women’s basketball championship hopes lasted about 42 hours. From the end of the Colorado game late Friday night to the end of Sunday afternoon’s loss to Utah, USC harbored realistic aspirations of being able to win a share of the last Pac-12 regular season title in women’s hoops. That dream died with the 74-68 defeat dealt by the Utes in a hard-fought game in the Galen Center.

Is the immediate result disappointing? No question. Yet, the larger picture is that USC made a great run at a conference championship which seemed out of the question for a good portion of the season. Let’s gain some perspective on the current balance of power in the Pac-12, but also on the journey USC took to get to this point:

STANFORD JUST HAS TO WIN A LAYUP GAME

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The Stanford Cardinal clinched a share of the Pac-12 title on Sunday by beating Arizona State. They will go to Corvallis for a very tough game at Oregon State on Thursday. However, they can lose that game and still win the outright Pac-12 title by beating last-place Oregon on Saturday in Eugene. Stanford will probably be close to a 20-point favorite in that game. The Cardinal are 99-percent likely to win the Pac-12 outright. For all intents and purposes, USC’s title chase ended with the loss to Utah.

USC’S PATH CLOSES

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

USC has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Stanford due to a win over the Cardinal. Had the teams tied in the standings, USC was in position to get the No. 1 seed at the Pac-12 Tournament. However, USC’s loss puts the Trojans two games behind Stanford. The Cardinal just need to win one of two this week in Oregon to finish ahead of USC. It’s an opportunity missed for the Trojans.

2 SEED STILL RIGHT THERE

USA TODAY Sports Syndication: The Register Guard

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/usc-pac-12-championship-hopes-024116468.html

Author : Trojans Wire

Publish date : 2024-02-26 02:41:16

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