A loss to Washington on Thursday would have no impact on USC’s bid for second place in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Trojans will get second if Washington State loses to UCLA on Thursday and USC beats the Cougars on Saturday. Then, even with a Washington loss, the teams would be tied at 12-6 in conference play and would have split their series. The tiebreaker would be better record against the conference’s top teams, and USC would win based on being 2-0 against Oregon.
However, a loss to the Huskies likely would impact USC’s NCAA Tournament seeding, so the Trojans do have reason to play their hardest.
Okay, what if:
1) USC beats Washington
2) WSU beats UCLA
3) USC beats WSU?
The teams would again be tied at 12-6 with a split series. Does WSU get the tiebreaker somehow by beating UCLA? Otherwise, the Washington game would be important (if WSU beats UCLA).
MK edit: Yes, the second tiebreaker after head-to-head is record against top conference team. If WSU beats UCLA, it holds that tiebreaker.
Looks like being ranked in the polls just doesn’t sit well for sc. Reserve your flights to Buffalo or Winston-Salem come Tourney Time.