No need to be class conscious

Hold the Mayo. Love isn’t all there is.

The UCLA-USC rivalry is already generating plenty of buzz even without top recruits O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love, who by next season could catapult L.A.’s battle for college basketball supremacy into the realm of Duke versus North Carolina.

Although USC can’t match the prestige of fourth-ranked UCLA, the Trojans are a program on the rise and could present matchup problems for the short-handed Bruins when the teams meet at 11:30 a.m. today at the Galen Center.

“They’re playing as well as anybody,” said UCLA Coach Ben Howland, whose Bruins are tied with USC and Oregon for third place in the Pacific 10 Conference. “They’re going to be in the NCAA tournament in my opinion.”

The Trojans and Bruins haven’t advanced to the same NCAA tournament since the 2001-02 season, but recent developments indicate USC could be headed for its first postseason appearance in four years.

Last weekend the Trojans swept Oregon and Oregon State, knocking the then-No. 16 Ducks from the ranks of the unbeaten and handing the Beavers a 45-point loss that was the most lopsided in the 82-year history of the series.

UCLA has a 14-1 record that includes victories over Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M; and Washington, all nationally ranked at the time the Bruins played them. The Bruins were top-ranked and undefeated before a 68-66 setback at Oregon last Saturday.

The teams’ success -- and USC’s new Galen Center, which today is expected to be sold out for the first time -- translates into a rivalry on the upswing.

“It’s a big-time rivalry,” USC junior guard Gabe Pruitt said. “I have a couple of friends in different conferences that talk about this game. I feel it ranks up with the best as far as the rivalry games.”

Where does it stand on the national scale?

“It’s certainly not Duke and North Carolina because we have not been as competitive as Duke or North Carolina,” USC Coach Tim Floyd said of the Trojans. “It’s our responsibility to put the game at that level.”

USC took a step in that direction last season with a 71-68 victory over UCLA at the Sports Arena, but the Trojans no longer have guards Ryan Francis and Dwayne Shackleford, who combined for 24 points and continually hurt the Bruins with dribble penetration.

This season, it’s the Bruins who have the quick point guard in 6-foot-1 sophomore Darren Collison and the Trojans who have the length in 6-4 junior Gabe Pruitt and 6-5 freshman Daniel Hackett.

“The roles are switched a little bit,” Collison said. “Whenever you have a quicker lineup than the other team, that’s definitely an advantage. It opens things up for you and lets you get into the paint.”

The interior could actually present an advantage for USC, which has forward Taj Gibson making a push for conference freshman-of-the-year honors by averaging 13.6 points and 9.3 rebounds.

“He poses a lot of problems,” Howland said. “He can shoot facing up, he can shoot with his back to the basket. He’s a very complete player.”

Gibson is likely to draw double teams from UCLA big men Lorenzo Mata and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, but the Bruins must compensate for the absence of sophomore swingman Josh Shipp, sidelined because of a hamstring injury.

Sophomore Michael Roll will take Shipp’s spot in the starting lineup, and other players will have to help replace the production of the Bruins’ second-leading scorer, who is averaging 14.7 points and 4.1 rebounds a game.

Floyd said the absence of Shipp “doesn’t make the game any easier” for USC.

“The added edge that they have is that they’re coming off of a loss and they’re a team that’s not accustomed to getting beat,” Floyd said. “Losing does bother that group, and they’re going to come to play.”

Said Collison: “I have a good feeling about the way we’re going to come out. The Oregon loss is going to make us strive to improve. I don’t think we ever want to experience a loss again.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com