Sweep May Separate USC From the Pac

Brandon Granville sat out USC’s practice Wednesday afternoon with flu-like symptoms and, according to sometimes-hyperbolic USC Coach Henry Bibby, a 104-degree temperature.

Granville is expected to start tonight against No. 13 Oregon. But what is less clear is whether it helped or hurt his condition to consider the scenarios that face the Trojans this week if they have hope of cutting down the Sports Arena nets as regular-season Pacific 10 Conference champions.

Mathematically, it’s simple. If No. 19 USC wins its final two regular-season games--against first-place Oregon tonight and eighth-place Oregon State on Saturday--the Trojans clinch at least a share of their first Pac-10 championship since 1985, when they tied with Washington.

But it gets better for the Trojans, who are in a three-way tie for second place at 11-5 with Arizona and California. USC has a realistic shot at landing the No. 1 seeding in the resurrected Pac-10 tournament, which was last played in 1990 and has the top eight finishers in the league playing at Staples Center March 7-9.

But to claim the top seeding and play the eighth-place team in the first round of the tournament, a few things must happen: First, USC has to win its final two games and needs 12-4 Oregon to lose at UCLA on Saturday. In addition, California must lose to either Arizona State or Arizona. The Trojans have the tiebreaker against Arizona, but Oregon and California have advantages over USC.

USC senior power forward Sam Clancy said the Trojans have several reasons to aim for the top seeding, which would give them a first-round game against Washington or Oregon State.

“It would mean a lot [psychologically] and give us an easier road through the tournament,” Clancy said. “We wouldn’t have to play somebody so difficult who’s already beat us once. It would mean a lot for [seeding] in the NCAA tournament too.”

While the Trojans are ranked 19th by the writers and 20th by the coaches, their ranking in the ratings percentage index, which is used to help determine the 65-team NCAA tournament field and seedings, was 28th Wednesday morning.

Of the six Pac-10 schools vying for invitations to the tournament, the Trojans’ RPI was fourth, behind No. 8 Arizona, No. 20 UCLA and No. 24 California, but ahead of No. 38 Stanford and No. 40 Oregon, according to collegerpi.com.

The site also predicted the Trojans seeded No. 9 in the South region, playing Syracuse in the first round with Duke waiting in the second.

There is a feeling, though, that if USC can win both games this week and follow by winning the Pac-10 tournament, it could improve its NCAA seeding to a No. 2 with a 24-7 record.

Only once since 1988 has the Pac-10 regular-season or tournament champion not been seeded at least No. 2. That occurred in 1996 when defending national champion UCLA, seeded No. 4, lost in the first round to Princeton.

The point is moot, however, should USC lose tonight.

The Ducks are a decidedly different team on the road than in the friendly confines of McArthur Court, where they equaled a school record by going 16-0. Oregon is 3-6 on the road, 4-7 including neutral-site games, while USC is 10-1 at home.

The Trojans gave the Ducks their biggest scare in Eugene, leading with less than a minute to play before having a potential game-winning three-point basket rim out with less than two seconds remaining. Oregon made two free throws to close out a 73-69 victory.

Although Granville is expected to start, Bibby probably is not done tinkering with his starting lineup. With center Kostas Charissis out because of a broken left ankle, Bibby started the physical-but-untested Gregg Guenther in the post last week against Stanford and California.

But with run-and-gun Oregon averaging 87.7 points, third-best nationally, Bibby probably will go small and athletic by starting always-electric but often-erratic Desmon Farmer.

“Trying to bring it right away is kind of hard,” Farmer said. “But right now I think guys are more focused to bring it because everybody’s hungry for the championship.”

A No. 1 seeding in the Pac-10 tournament would satisfy the appetite as well.

TONIGHT

vs. No. 13 Oregon, 7:30 p.m.,

Fox Sports Net 2

Site--Sports Arena.

Radio--KMPC (1540), KPLS (830).

Records--No. 19 USC 19-7, 11-5 in Pac-10; No. 13 Oregon 20-7, 12-4.

Update--Granville will become USC’s all-time leader in games played at 119 the next time he plays.... One more victory will give USC consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since 1939-40.... Clancy moved to No. 3 on USC’s scoring list last week with 1,538 points.... The last eight games between USC and Oregon have been decided by seven points or fewer.

Tickets--(213) 740-4672.

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