Daily Trojan USC.edu

RSS

Memphis-Kansas through USC's eyes

Peter Simones

Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Sports
  • Print
  • Email
Kansas and Memphis play for the national championship tonight in what is, by all accounts, a premier matchup. But in Los Angeles, something seems a little off.

As the college basketball nation collectively drools over the two teams' recent performances, one knowledgeable group has reason to be unfazed by any Packerisms or Nantz poetry lauding the Jayhawks and Tigers' play.

You guessed it.

Eighteen days removed from tournament action, USC men's basketball might not even care which team wins the title, but the Trojans might have spent some time wondering how two squads they lost to by a combined eight points now appear so superior to the pack, while they sit around watching TV as nothing more than a generously coined afterthought.

USC lost to Kansas at home Dec. 2, 59-55, then traveled cross-country to take on Memphis two days later at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic where USC lost again by four, this time 62-58 in overtime.

Had the Trojans pulled off one of the upsets, they would have handed the No. 3 Jayhawks or No. 2 Tigers their first loss. More than four months later, the two teams will end the season tonight with a combined five losses to go along with 75 wins.

So who has the edge?

You could ask Arizona and Oklahoma, who also played both teams in the regular season. The problem is the Wildcats were soundly defeated by Memphis while the Sooners were swept out of the gym by the Jayhawks.

How about Texas? The Longhorns lost two of three contests to Kansas, but were annihilated by Memphis in the Regional Final last weekend.

Tough to find telling information from those sources.

Thus, it all circles back to the Trojans, who, for at least one night, figured out how to give Kansas and Memphis a game - something only Davidson has managed to do in the NCAA Tournament.

Against Kansas, USC slowed down the pace - rule No. 1 for Memphis, which undoubtedly saw the Jayhawks score 40 points in the first 12 and a half minutes Saturday against North Carolina.
Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools

Be the first to comment on this story

  • NOTE: Email address will not be published

Type your comment below (html not allowed)

  I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Comments and Forum Posting Policy


Thank you for your interest and participation in the Daily Trojan comments and online forum system. To safeguard USC's Principles of Community while fostering a healthy campus dialogue, we require users to follow these basic posting guidelines:

Right to Delete Posts
Any postings that the Daily Trojan deems incongruent with its policies - including messages that are defamatory, obscene, abusive or in violation of copyright or trademark laws - are subject to editing or deletion. Although the Daily Trojan cannot reasonably expect to review every forum posting and is not responsible for any posted content, it reserves the right to monitor forums and remove posting privileges of users who violate these terms. All messages must be written in English.

Posting Rules
Comments, interactive areas, discussion boards, and the Daily Trojan Forums are intended to encourage public debate. We expect participants to differ ? judgment and opinion are subjective, and we encourage freedom of speech and a marketplace of ideas. But by using these areas of our website, you are participating in a community that is intended for all our users. Therefore, we reserve the right to remove any content posted on our site at any time for any reason.

Decisions as to whether content violates any Posting Rule will be made by the Daily Trojan at its sole discretion, after having received actual notice of such posting. Without limiting our right to remove content, we have attempted to provide guidelines to those posting content on our site. When using our website, please do not post material that:

  • contains vulgar, profane, abusive or hateful language, epithets or slurs, text or illustrations in poor taste, inflammatory attacks of a personal, racial or religious nature, or expressions of bigotry, racism, discrimination or hate.
  • is defamatory, threatening, disparaging, grossly inflammatory, false, misleading, deceptive, fraudulent, inaccurate, unfair, contains gross exaggeration or unsubstantiated claims, violates the privacy rights of any third party, is unreasonably harmful or offensive to any individual or community, contains any actionable statement, or tends to mislead or reflect unfairly on any other person, business or entity.
  • violates any right of the Daily Trojan or any third party.
  • discriminates on the grounds of race, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation or disability, or refers to such matters in any manner prohibited by law.
  • violates any municipal, state or federal law, rule, regulation or ordinance, or attempts to encourage such an evasion or violation.
  • unfairly interferes with any third party?s uninterrupted use of the Daily Trojan.
  • advertises, promotes or offers to trade any goods or services, except in areas specifically designated for such purpose.
  • uploads copyrighted or other proprietary material of any kind on our website without the express permission of the owner of that material.
  • uses or attempts to use another?s account, password, service or system except as expressly permitted by the Terms of Service.
  • includes images, photos, or articles or other content that constitutes, promotes or encourages illegal acts, violation of any right of any individual or entity, violation of any local, state, national or international law, rule, guideline or regulation, or otherwise creates liability.
  • uploads or transmits viruses or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files.
  • disrupts, interferes with, or otherwise harms or violates the security of our website, or any services, system resources, accounts, passwords, servers or networks connected to or accessible through our website or affiliated or linked sites.
  • "flames" any individual or entity (e.g., sends repeated messages related to another user and/or makes derogatory or offensive comments about another individual), or repeats prior posting of the same message under multiple threads or subjects.

(Adapted from the Los Angeles Times Forums Policies with permission.)

 

Advertisement

Advertisements

Advertisement

Sections


Site Features

On The Go

Information

Poll

Which attribute of housing around the University Park Campus is most important to you?

Submit Vote

View Results