Carpet for one. Gravel for the other.

A straight and heavenly path for one. A potholed hell for the other.

USC and UCLA received their directions Sunday for the Road to San Antonio.

But, no, it's not the same road.

One is going to be dancing, the other is going to be dodging.

One was given two weeks worth of gas, the other was told to get out and start pushing.

UCLA, awarded the top seeding in the NCAA basketball tournament's West Regional, has a trip so relatively simple, it can prop up Luc Richard Mbah a Moute's sore ankle for two weeks and put it on cruise control.

USC, given the sixth seeding in the Midwest Regional, didn't even get cruise control. Or power steering. Or air conditioning. Or a map.

UCLA, with the easiest path of all top-seeded teams, plays two simple games in front of a home crowd in Anaheim, then takes its fans to Phoenix for two more winnable games, its toughest probably coming in the regional final against outclassed but second-seeded Duke.

USC, meanwhile, was sent to Omaha to duel with college basketball's player of the year in Kansas State's Michael Beasley.

Then, if the Trojans survive the first round, they will probably face their nightmare matchup in patient and persistent Wisconsin.

UCLA should reach the Final Four for a third consecutive season, and once there, if everyone is healthy, it could face a winnable semifinal game against Memphis or Texas.

USC is talented enough to go nearly as far, but it will probably not reach next week.

And, oh yes, lest we forget about the Southland's other tournament entry, Cal State Fullerton . . . well, forget about Cal State Fullerton.

Seeded 14th in the Midwest, the Titans play the part of Trojans appetizer by enduring the first-round game against Wisconsin.

For the big two teams in town, the lessons of Sunday are as simple and unadorned as those games in November, or on a winter weeknight, or when nobody is watching.

You must win those games. To earn a good seeding under one of the biggest spotlights in sports, you must play well when nobody seems to care but you.

"Early in the year, I don't think we understood the urgency of the situation," said Taj Gibson of his inexperienced USC teammates. "Now, we do."

Early in the season, the Trojans lost to Mercer. Then in January they lost three consecutive games to Cal, Stanford and Washington State. In early March, they gave away a game at Arizona State.

Even though they finished with six wins in their last eight games, the early stuff hurt their seeding, and toughened their task.