It just might have been USC in the title game

USC Trojans . . . this could have been you.

Michigan State has won five games to reach Monday night’s national title game.

Which was the toughest game along the way?

Call it a tie between USC and Kansas. The Trojans and Jayhawks each suffered five-point defeats.

Michigan State defeated USC, 74-69, in a Midwest Regional second-round game in Minneapolis and defeated Kansas, 67-62, in a regional semifinal at Indianapolis.

The difference, of course, is that USC was a 10th-seeded team and Kansas was a No. 2 -- and the defending national champion.

Michigan State had easier games against two top-seeded schools in the tournament: The Spartans defeated Louisville by eight points and Connecticut by nine.

The last two minutes of USC’s loss to Michigan State becomes more what-might-have-been-interesting by the minute.

With 1 minute 48 seconds left, USC guard Daniel Hackett intercepted a pass and was streaking toward the basket that could have tied the score, 71-71, when the ball unexpectedly flew out of his hands.

It appeared as though Hackett might have been fouled on the play, but he said afterward that the ball slipped out of his hands.

“It happened, it was unfortunate,” Hackett said.

Michigan State secured the five-point win by making three key free throws in the final 1:18.

There were 14 lead changes in the game, seven in the last eight minutes, and 16 ties.

Who knows what might have happened had the Trojans managed to upset Michigan State in the second round.

There’s no certainty, no guarantee USC, as Michigan State did, would have defeated Kansas, Louisville and Connecticut in succession.

But, as Michigan State gets set to tip off Monday night for the national title, and USC players sit home and watch, here’s something to consider: this might have been the Trojans’ fairy tale run.

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The big what?

The Big East Conference earned seven bids to the NCAA tournament, advanced four teams to the Elite Eight and had half the field in the Final Four.

The national title game, though, will be a matchup between the Big Ten Conference (Michigan State) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (North Carolina).

North Carolina fans made sure everyone knew which conference was not playing in Monday night’s title game with postgame chants of “Where’s the Big East, where’s the Big East?”

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Etc.

It has been a long road home: Michigan State will try to become the first team to win a national title in its home state since 1975, when UCLA won its 10th title for John Wooden in San Diego.

Wait. Kansas won the 1988 title in Kansas City.

Kansas is Kansas, all right, but the title game was played in Kansas City, Mo.

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chris.dufresne@latimes.com