USC Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Trojans

Schedule

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic drastically altering the non-conference slate for all of the NCAA, and particularly the PAC-12, USC had themselves a very nice schedule of games lined up.

A date with Gonzaga in Portland as part of the Phil Knight Invitational was set for November 17, and a home-and-home matchup with Blue Blood Kansas was scheduled for December 21 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Now – at least as of this writing – the Trojans don’t have a single non-conference game on the schedule.

The date with the Zags seems unlikely to be re-scheduled this season, a massive bummer for coach Andy Enfield and his squad. The four-team Phil Knight Invitational also included Oregon and BYU, but as of now it does not sound like the city of Portland is planning to put together any kind of bubble.

Kansas and the Trojans will likely just reschedule their game for 2022, although their current game could in theory be played if both teams want – we’ll know more as schedules start to solidify.

Conference

While USC’s non-conference schedule is unknown, they’ll once again be right in the thick of things in the competitive PAC-12. Oregon, UCLA, and Arizona State expect to be the top three in the conference, but the presence of Mobley makes USC at least a player in the PAC.

If things come together, the Trojans finishing in the top three is absolutely possible, although they are just as capable of finishing in the bottom three – such is the nature of the PAC-12 these days.