This first season was always going to be graded on a curve for USC basketball coach Eric Musselman, who inherited one returning player (who barely plays) and basically started from scratch last spring in resetting the program.

That the Trojans are battling just to make the cut for the Big Ten tournament next week by staying within the top 15 of the conference standings is not a surprise in the big picture, but it might have been a month ago when USC was 5-5 in league play and coming off an upset of then-No. 7 Michigan State at home.

Since then ...

Well, USC had lost seven of eight games (including five straight) before a much-needed 92-61 victory at home Wednesday night over Washington.

That leaves the Trojans 15-15 overall and 7-12 in the Big Ten, clinging to the final of those 15 spots for the Big Ten tournament with one game to play Saturday at rival UCLA.

USC is one of five teams tied at 7-12 in the standings, with Iowa (6-12) the only potential spoiler as it closes out the regular season with games Thursday against Michigan State and Saturday vs. Nebraska.

The Hawkeyes can potentially leapfrog one of the 7-12 teams by winning those final two games or create a tiebreaker headache by joining the logjam with one win. The Trojans can avoid all that by beating the Bruins on Saturday.

Either way, the reality is they're fighting just to get in the conference tournament -- not analyzing Quad 1 wins and a path to March Madness like they were a month ago.

So while the totality of the season may not be a surprise given where this USC basketball reset started nearly a year ago, the final month has no doubt been disappointing.

And Musselman had some thoughts on how the Trojans got to this point ...

"Your schedule's going to dictate winning streaks and losing streaks. It's just how it's going to be. And so, I knew the Ohio State game (an 87-82 loss at home on Feb. 26) was going to be really hard after our travel, so we have not played good basketball down the stretch," he said. "But tonight's our largest margin of victory. We were in town for a little bit and we finally got our legs back and stuff. There's no excuse because it's how it's going to be, but if you look at other really good programs in our league -- Michigan State came out here, they've got three league losses and they came to Los Angeles and lost both games. Was it UCLA and USC's play? Or did it have to do a little bit with travel? Because you don't lose three league games and lose two on one trip.

"It's not easy. Our travel's been really difficult toward the end of the year, so we haven't played our best basketball. ... We were 5-5 at one point, right on the NCAA bubble line and going to Rutgers and Maryland took a toll on us."

The Trojans' freefall started after that upset win over Michigan State, when they then lost 77-75 on the road at Northwestern with point guard Desmond Claude missing the game due to injury. That was followed by a blowout loss on the road against a ranked Purdue team, a win at home over lowly Penn State (one of three teams that will miss the cut for the Big Ten tournament) and then a crushing 69-66 loss at home to Minnesota -- a game that USC led by 10 points in the second half. That started the five-game losing streak that continued on the road at Maryland and Rutgers, back home for the aforementioned loss to Ohio State and then a dismal 82-61 loss at Oregon last weekend.

In the nine games since the Trojans' season peaked with that win over Michigan State, their only wins have been against the two teams at the bottom of the Big Ten standings in Penn State and Washington.

Musselman seems frustrated not just by the results, though, but by the perception of it all.

"I watch Big Ten games every night. People are talking about Minnesota winning seven league games and they're talking about Nebraska winning seven league games. You know, we're in Year 1 and nobody's talking about us -- at all. Big Ten Network's not talking about us," he said Wednesday night. "We have seven wins and when you look at the win-loss column we're tied with some programs that have been around a while in this league. Like I said, Nebraska and Minnesota have been getting a lot of compliments of late with travel and all that. You've got to look at the whole league.

"For this group to get seven and to look at games like Ohio State at home and Minnesota game at home, you can go back -- in the Minnesota game I've never seen anything like it in all the years I've been doing it. Every little thing went wrong, there was controversy. I can compliment this team for giving their all because I think they have. Has it been perfect? Not by any means. We know we want to grow next year, but right now we have another game left and hopefully throughout the totality of the Big Ten season hopefully we'll be able to play in the Big Ten tournament."

None of this dims the potential for what this program can be under Musselman, and that's the most important point to make as this season winds to a close -- however it winds to a close.

These Trojans weren't expected to be a top half of the league team because it was clear their patchwork roster had obvious holes -- size in the post, depth of true primary ball-handlers to name a couple. USC also lost a starter early on when Michigan transfer Terrance Williams II went down with what will end up being a season-ending injury.

Still, the Trojans were competitive more often than not. The narrow losses to Northwestern and Minnesota stick with Musselman, as does an early 71-66 non-conference loss at home to Cal. USC probably could have also beat UCLA in the first meeting (an 82-76 loss) and hung close in that loss to Ohio State.

That's basketball, though. The point is Musselman's team has played hard all season and for stretches played better than probably most expected. In the end, the Trojans settled back to what was probably a logical projection in the first place.

"This group is really trying. We have some holes, for sure. But yeah, tonight, that's our largest margin since Southern, so I don't care who you play, I don't care where the game is, we played really good tonight," Musselman said Wednesday. "It's not going to carry over because every game's got its own theme, its own identity, but this team needed a win."

But a lot can carryover from this season toward the future of what Musselman is trying to build.

It's unknown what Claude (team-high 15.8 points per game) will choose to do with another year of eligibility remaining, but breakout guard Wesley Yates III (16.8 PPG in conference play) should be back as a redshirt sophomore and foundational piece for Musselman.

And then there's three players who were thought to be playing their final seasons this year but could instead return.

Forwards Saint Thomas (9.4 PPG, team-high 5.9 rebounds per game), Rashaun Agee (8.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG) and Williams (10.6 PPG in 7 games played) chose not to participate in senior night festivities Wednesday. Williams is an obvious candidate for a medical redshirt, while Thomas could look to recoup a year of eligibility after only playing half of the 2022-23 season at Loyola Chicago while talking publicly about his battle with depression at that time and Agee played a year in junior college, which he could get back.

"Shaun and Saint feel that there might be an opportunity. I don't have an answer for it. ... It's up to those guys and compliance to sit down and go through that," Musselman said. "And certainly Terrance Williams, I can answer that one, he should have another year of eligibility -- the injury fits under how many games. ... T-Will, we feel really confident he will be granted another year."

In the transfer portal era, nothing can be assumed, but current freshmen Isaiah Elohim (18 gams played) and Jalen Shelley (19 games played) as well as sophomore Kevin Patton Jr. (3.4 PPG over 24 games) could return.

Musselman and staff will be busy in the portal yet again, but the biggest addition to come could be incoming five-star freshman Alijah Arenas.

"I think one guy can help us attendance-wise -- I can't talk about him. But I know that walking around ... I do think people understand who could be coming in here and I do think there's a real good buzz about that," Musselman said.

In basketball as much as any sport, one impact freshman like that can change everything from season to the next.

But on the hole, however Musselman's first season ends up shouldn't deter optimism for what is ahead for his Trojans.