Worried about USC's losses to the Washington schools over the weekend?
Don't be. The Trojans are now 6-4 in their last 10 games closing the regular season - the exact same record the 2001 team had entering the NCAA Tournament before it made a run all the way to the Elite Eight.
But that's not the only thing those teams have in common. Forget the comparisons last year between the 2003 and 2006 USC football teams - the similarities between this year's basketball team and the 2001 team are astounding.
I just wish I had thought of the theory myself. It took an e-mail by former Daily Trojan sports writer Aaron Burgin to enlighten me.
But once I got the tip, I did some research and found some amazing results.
Both teams were coming off a sixth place finish in the Pacific-10 Conference the year before and were picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the preseason Pac-10 media polls.
Both returned a majority of its starters, accounting for almost all of the points scored from the year before, giving fans reason for optimism.
In 2001 the Trojans returned all five starters - inside-scoring threat Sam Clancy, 3-point specialist David Bluthenthal, pass-first point guard Brandon Granville, high-flyer Jeff Trepagnier and preseason All-American candidate Brian Scalabrine. This year the Trojans returned three of the best players in the conference - Nick Young, Gabe Pruitt and Lodrick Stewart - but had to deal with the shooting death of point guard Ryan Francis.
Both teams suffered the loss of a star for the first 11 games of the season because of ineligibility problems.
The 2001 team lost guard Trepagnier for because of an extra-benefits violation stemming from his girlfriend's father cosigning on an Escalade; the problem was his girlfriend's mother was a coach on the track and field team. He solved the problem by marrying his girlfriend - a sprinter on the USC track team - in Las Vegas the night before Pac-10 play to become eligible.
This year the loss of guard Gabe Pruitt was much less dramatic: He missed 11 games because of academic ineligibility.
Even Pruitt and Trepagnier's stats from the previous season are eerily similar. Both were the second-leading scorers the year before - Pruitt averaged 16.9 points per game and Trepagnier averaged 15.9 points per game - and both were good outside shooters, making 38 percent of their 3-point attempts.
But both teams managed to open the season 9-2 with the help of a super freshman from out-of-state to help shoulder the load. In 2001 it was guard Desmon Farmer from Flint, Mich., and this year it was forward Taj Gibson from Brooklyn, N.Y.
Pruitt and Trepagnier both took a few games to get going after the suspension and never fully regained their previous scoring form. Pruitt's scoring average fell 4.8 points per game and Trepagnier's fell 5.9 points per game.
The return of the players in both years led the Trojans to a finish near the top of the Pac-10 standings. The 2001 team finished in fourth place, and this year's team finished in third place. Even their records are similar: The 2001 Trojans were 21-9 and 11-7 in conference, and this year's team is 21-10 and 11-7 in conference.
Creepy huh? But there's even more.
You would think the attendance would be much different with the brand-new Galen Center compared to the dingy old Sports Arena. But the 2007 Trojans averaged only 475 more fans per game.
Both teams lost only three games at home and were swept by rival UCLA.
And both teams hadn't made the NCAA tournament in several years - the 2001 team hadn't made it in five years, and this year's team hasn't made it in four years.
The 2001 team entered the tournament as a No. 6 seed, which is where most analysts are projecting this year's team to be come March Madness.
In the first round the 2001 team blew past a Cinderella Oklahoma State team that was dealing with the death of two players in a plane crash.
Then the Trojans squeaked by Boston College to get into the Sweet 16 for the first time ever in the current tournament format.
Then the Trojans faced No. 2-seed Kentucky - led by Tayshaun Prince - and somehow held him to only six points and won by four.
USC eventually lost to NCAA Champion Duke by 10 points in the Elite Eight, but it was still perhaps the greatest run in the history of Trojan basketball.
The only wildcard this season is the Pac-10 Tournament this weekend because there was no such thing in 2001.
The conference tournament didn't come back until the 2002 season.
This weekend could change the Trojans actual seeding, but USC is still a lock to make the tournament.
The only thing that isn't a lock is a magical run to the Elite Eight like the 2001 Trojan squad had.
But with the similarities between the two teams all bets are off.
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