Trojans Aim to Cement Berth

USC doesn’t need a detailed analysis of what it needs to do this weekend to get into the NCAA tournament.

Two road wins against Washington and Washington State should lock up a slot for the Trojans whether they finish fourth or fifth in the Pacific 10 Conference. If they tie or pass Cal for fourth place, so much the better because they swept the season series from the Bears, who play Arizona State and Arizona at home.

At split could also get them in because the Trojans would have 20 victories for the first time since 1992. The top five Pac-10 teams could all have at least 20 wins (Cal, like USC, has 19) to go with fairly high RPI ratings. Top-ranked Stanford is has the highest RPI (No. 1) while Cal has the lowest (35). USC is at 20.

But a split may still give the tournament selection committee pause when it comes to the Trojans, depending on how other teams shake out in their postseason tournaments.

The last time the committee selected five Pac-10 teams for the tournament was 1997.

Two losses? The Trojans don’t want to go there.

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Brandon Granville needs 25 points to reach 1,000 for his career. It would make him the 25th Trojan with at least 1,000 and the third player to do it this season, joining Brian Scalabrine and Jeff Trepagnier. So far, the USC athletic department hasn’t found another season when three players reached 1,000 career points.

Sam Clancy could also reach 1,000 points this season. He is 69 away.

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The Trojans won 12 regular-season home games this season, the most since they won 14 in 1991-92.