After its football team dropped out of the AP Top 25, USC is turning to the men’s and women’s basketball teams to reinvigorate student excitement about athletics.
The Trojans dropped their second game of the season this weekend, scoring just one touchdown in a 24-7 loss to Wisconsin.
Giancarlo Hash, a junior studying real estate development, had high hopes for USC football this year. “I am, as far as I know, one of the only students who went to that Penn State game,” he said, demonstrating his investment in the team.
Hash said he was interested in attending last week’s game but ultimately stood by his decision not to go. “I wanted to go to the Wisconsin game,” he said. “Glad I didn’t, because that was so embarrassing.”
Delaney Duby, a sophomore majoring in biological sciences, was also disappointed by the result. Her family had attended the game while she napped. “I woke up pissed,” she said.
Hash was at a loss as to where this year’s team went wrong. “I just find myself asking, ‘What the heck are we doing?’ We have the best everything, best facility, best funding, best talent pool,” he said.
With men’s and women’s basketball seasons starting Monday, students are optimistic that both teams will give the campus more to be excited about. Both Hash and Duby wished the football season had gone better, but neither thinks it’s indicative of what’s in store for basketball.
“I’m hopeful,” Hash said. “I heard we got some good transfers and hopefully Coach Muss gets us right this season.”
The men’s team enters the season ranked 21st in the country, with seven new transfers, the No. 7 freshman class and returners like Alijah Arenas, who was just named to the preseason Jerry West Award watch list. Men’s basketball went 2-1 in exhibition play and will begin their regular season Monday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles against Milwaukee.
Women’s basketball also looks strong heading into their first regular-season match, coming off a thrilling 78-76 exhibition win over Cal Sunday, which marked the return of Juju Watkins.
“I went to the women’s basketball game on Sunday,” Duby said. “I painted [my chest] for it, and we spelled out ‘I heart Juju.’ It was freaking awesome.”
They are ranked 3rd in ESPN’s preseason polls and will take on UNLV Monday night in Las Vegas.
Hash also noted a trend he’s seen in students. “USC is shifting more towards a research university,” he said, regarding USC’s acceptance rate. “I think as you shift more towards research and these kinds of genius prodigy students, they honestly just don’t care as much about sports.”
“I don’t want to generalize, but if we’re being honest, people don’t care as much about athletics anymore,” he said.
Edited by Andriana Yatsyshyn and Bennett Weinschenk.