Stanford, UCLA Are Ranked, While USC Gets Snubbed

If it bothered any of the USC players that Stanford and UCLA were ranked in the Associated Press top 25 while the Trojans weren’t, it wasn’t evident Monday.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” center David Crouse said. “UCLA is always going to get the respect and Stanford has a couple [potential NBA draft] first-rounders so they will get the votes. All that matters is at the end of the year. The [NCAA] tournament shakes up the rankings anyway.”

USC has the same record as the Bruins (13-7), ranked 24th. Stanford, No. 22, has a slightly better record (13-6), but lost to USC last Thursday and to UCLA on Saturday, its third loss in a row.

“They’re Stanford and we’re USC,” guard Elias Ayuso said. “We don’t have the respect. But we’re going to sneak up on people so that’s no problem.”