USC Trojans Receive Promising Ranking Before Next Season

The USC Trojans men's basketball team enters year three under coach Eric Musselman, and the program is still searching for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since hiring Musselman before the 2024-25 season.

Thanks to USC's recruiting as well as roster retention, the expectations surrounding the Trojans basketball team is to make the NCAA Tournament in 2026, at the least.

usc trojans eric musselman march madness projections alijah arenas rodney rice transfer portal big ten ncaa tournament — Feb 18, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman and guard Alijah Arenas (0) react against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the first half at Galen Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Key returning pieces like USC guards Alijah Arenas and Rodney Rice, as well as Trojans forward Jacob Cofie, give Musselman and experienced core to work with, and the rest of the roster has been supplemented by key transfer portal pickups as well as multiple five-star recruits.

According to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, he ranked the USC Trojans No. 13 out of his top 45 teams now that a majority of transfer portal and NBA Draft decisions have been finalized.

1. Florida
2. Illinois
3. Duke
4. Michigan
5. UConn
6. Arizona
7. Michigan State
8. Gonzaga
9. Virginia
10. Texas
11. Arkansas
12. Houston
13. USC
14. Louisville
15. Iowa State
16. Miami
17. Tennessee
18. St. John's
19. Vanderbilt
20. Alabama
21. Purdue
22. UCLA
23. Ohio State
24. Missouri
25. Indiana
26. North Carolina
27. BYU
28. Nebraska
29. TCU
30. Kansas
31. Saint Louis
32. Wisconsin
33. Villanova
34. VCU
35. Iowa
36. Oregon
37. Providence
38. Texas A&M
39. Creighton
40. Kentucky
41. Stanford
42. Georgia
43. Clemson
44. Syracuse
45. Auburn

If USC can go from missing the NCAA Tournament to a top-15 team in one season, it's because of the talent on the roster.

Rice played in six games for the Trojans in 2025 before a right shoulder injury ended his season prematurely. Still, Rice flashed in limited action, averaging 20.3 points per game for USC. His return to the starting lineup is as significant as Arenas' decision to forgo the NBA Draft and return to school for another season.

usc trojans basketbal — Nov 14, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard Rodney Rice (1) shoots a free throw during the first half of the Hall of Fame Series game against the Illinois State Redbirds at Intuit Dome. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Rothstein includes Rice, Arenas, and Cofie as three of USC's starters for next season, and the college basketball insider predicts that Georgetown transfer KJ Lewis and UConn transfer Eric Reibe will fill out the rest of the Trojans' starting lineup.

“I can’t wait to get to work for next year, starting tonight when I get back to the hotel. . . . I haven’t had in-depth conversations with admin yet about [NIT], but I would assume we’re not going to play, based on number of bodies and how we played the last 8 games," Musselman said, per CalPost's Ben Bolch, after USC was eliminated by Washington in the Big Ten Tournament.

Musselman and the Trojans did get to work quickly, landing transfers like Lewis and Reibe as well as former Colgate guard Jalen Cox and former Hawai'i guard Aaron-Hunkin-Claytor. USC is also adding five-star recruits Christian Collins and Adonis Ratliff as well as four-star Darius Ratliff to the program.

USC's schedule for 2026-27 has not yet been released, but the Trojans are tied with Vanderbilt, Iowa State, and Virginia with the 15th-best odds (+3500) to win the national championship, according to odds on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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