USC didn't have to worry about its place in the 68-team NCAA tournament field, but the range of projections for where it could be seeded and sent left plenty of suspense for the tournament selection show Sunday afternoon.
Especially as USC's name wasn't revealed until the final portions of the bracket.
The Trojans (22-9) received a No. 10 seed in the East Region and will open tournament play in Columbus, Ohio, vs. Michigan State (19-12) on Friday.
The winner of that game will play the winner of No. 2 Marquette and No. 15 Vermont.
USC is making its third straight NCAA tournament appearance under coach Andy Enfield (it would be four straight if the 2020 tournament hadn't been cancelled during the pandemic).
Officially, this Enfield's fifth NCAA tournament appearance in 10 seasons, which is the most of any coach in program history.
Enfield said he hadn't watched Michigan State play this season, but his staff will surely begin that scouting process promptly. Still, Enfield didn't want to make a big deal about perceptions of Big Ten basketball vs. Pac-12 basketball, expected style differences between the programs, etc.
"You just have to worry about your own team. We have to prepare this week and become the best team we can on Friday. It doesn't matter who you're playing -- Michigan State is a quality opponent just like everybody else in March Madness. That's why they're there," he said. "The Big Ten, we're going there in two years and this is a Big Ten team. A lot of people say the style of basketball is different -- I don't necessarily agree with that. I think every team has their own unique styles. There's strengths and weaknesses on our team, there's strengths and weaknesses on every other team in this tournament. We'll try to play to our strengths, just like Michigan State will, and we'll prepare like we do every other game."
The biggest key, Enfield emphasized, was where the health of his team is by Friday.
Starting guard Drew Peterson, who will be making his third straight NCAA tournament appearance, has been playing through a back injury the last week and a half and not practicing fully. He said that will change this week.
"Better, it's good. I'll be 100 percent by Friday. Especially it's good getting that later draw, but I'll be ready to go and looking to fully practice this week. It's good timing to get kind of get back 100 percent," Peterson said.
"It was definitely affecting me and one of the worst parts was just being out of practice the last couple weeks, not getting to play live every day. But I'll be ready to go this week. ... It's win or go home now. It's all cards on the table so we're going to be ready to go regardless.
Meanwhile, freshman big man Vince Iwuchukwu remains day-to-day with his own back injury, which kept him out of the last two games.
"Vince is progressing. He has a back injury as well. He is day to day. We're hopeful he'll play on Friday, but that's not my decision -- that's really Vince and the doctors."
And guard Reese Dixon-Waters and center Josh Morgan have also been limited.
"The last week and a half we have not been 100 percent, and I think it showed," Enfield said. "... This past week Reese and Josh missed three days of practice each, so we haven't really practiced in a week. So we need to get back to some of the basics the next few days, work on our defensive schemes, work on our offense and just get back into the flow of how we were playing before we had some of these injuries."
USC finished third in the Pac-12 but lost its first conference tournament game, to Arizona State on Thursday. The Trojans had won eight of their previous 11 games -- including an upset of rival UCLA, which earned a No. 2 seed. --- which stabilized their place in the postseason.
As for Michigan State, the Spartans have been an erratic team, not winning more than two straight games at any point since early January. They lost to Ohio State, 68-58, in their Big Ten tournament opener after sweeping the Buckeyes during the regualr season.
The Spartans are led by senior guard Tyson Walker (14.6 points per game) and graduate 6-foot-9 forward Joey Hauser (14.2 PPG, 6.9 rebounds per game).
The good thing matchup-wise for USC is that Michigan State does not boast a lot of size with no player taller than 6-foot-9 averaging at least 20 minutes per game, so the Trojans' struggles with interior defense won't be challenged quite as much.
The Spartans do shoot the ball well from the perimeter, though, with Hauser shooting 45.6 percent (68 of 149) from 3-point range, Jaden Akins shooting 43.6 percent on 3s (44 of 101) and Walker nailing 42.3 percent of his 3s (55 of 130).
"They've got to adjust to us as well. We play a pretty fast, up-tempo game, and they kind of play a little bit slower. We're excited. We're ready for the challenge," guard Boogie Ellis said.
Added guard Kobe Johnson: "Like Boogie said, we're not going to change the way we play. So we're just going to come out, still play the way we're playing, make adjustments of course to how they're playing and how they move offensively, but also we're going to focus on us."
And, of course, Michigan State is coached by Tom Izzo, who has led the program to eight Final Fours and a national championship in 2000.
"I just know him personally through being in the business and through the Nike trips that we take," Enfield said. "I see him on the road a lot recruiting. He's extremely friendly, great coach, obviously a Hall of Fame coach and one of the best in the business."
