Bracketology 2023: Fixing the flaws of 5 potential tournament teams

USC Trojans 6-3

Like Oregon, USC who was picked to finish just behind the Ducks also suffered an early-season unexpected setback falling to Florida Gulf Coast in their opener. They quickly righted the ship with some wins, but at Battle 4 Atlantis went just 1-2 falling to Tennessee in overtime and then to Wisconsin.
They returned to California to sweep a couple of league games against California and Oregon State. Andy Enfield’s Trojans have been led by seniors Boogie Ellis who transferred from Memphis and Drew Peterson. The duo has been fantastic this season averaging 29.7 points per game, nearly half of the team’s 70.5.

Usually, to make a long postseason run it helps to have a productive bench. It allows the coach to keep everyone fresher throughout the year so that you can not only ride your horses harder in March but also get some production when they are on the sidelines. For the Trojans, that is their biggest key for me during the lull in the schedule, finding some semblance of a bench so that Andy Enfield’s starters aren’t gassed when March hits.

This is mainly for Ellis and Peterson who are both averaging the most minutes on the team at over 30 per game. Not only does nobody on the USC bench average more than 20 minutes per game, but the problem for the Trojans is that none of the guys are very productive. Besides when either Tre White or Kobe Johnson comes off the bench no other member of the team averages more than 12 points and 3.5 minutes per game. If USC can’t find guys that can give those starters productive rest, that could be a big issue for them late in the year especially if they have to battle for an at-large berth.