Juju Watkins has been the most electrifying player in college basketball this season. Outdoing her historic freshman campaign was going to be a tall task for the sophomore guard, but Watkins has kept pace this season despite the undivided attention she garners from opponents.
Her 24.6 points per game are the second-most of any player in the country, and she has stuffed the stat sheet otherwise this year as well. Watkins leads her team in both assists and steals and her 6.9 rebounds per game rank her third.
The University of Southern California has been dominant this year as a result of Watkins' play. The team won 19 of their first 20 games and finished the regular season with a dominant 26-2 record.
However, the Trojans narrowly dropped a contest to the UCLA Bruins in the championship game of the Big 10 Tournament last Sunday. This was their final game before the brackets are officially released for the NCAA Tournament on March 16, so the loss could affect where the team is seeded.
What seed will Juju Watkins and USC get in March Madness?
With a 28-3 record and two of their losses coming to No. 4 UCLA and No. 6 Notre Dame, the Trojans should still be a lock for a No. 1 seed. ESPN bracketology expert Charlie Creme ranked the Trojans as a No. 1 seed last week, and with such a narrow loss to a highly touted Bruins team, USC should not drop far, if at all.
There is a chance that the UConn Huskies or TCU Horned Frogs, both of whom are No. 2 seeds and won their respective conference tournaments, could jump over the Trojans and be the top seed in Region 3 or 4, but that is unlikely.
When comparing the entire body of work between the programs, USC has a far more impressive overall resume and they have a head-to-head win over the Huskies. If any of the No. 1 seeds are going to be jumped over, it would be Texas, who lost by nearly 20 to South Carolina in the SEC Tournament championship.
Based on Creme's projections, USC would end up with a relatively easy draw in the tournament compared to other teams. Instead of facing a 2-seed like UConn, TCU or Notre Dame, the Trojans are supposed to be in the same region as NC State, who just lost handily to Duke in the ACC Championship.
Regardless of who they end up facing off against, Watkins and the USC Trojans will be out for blood in March Madness. After a stellar regular season, the team should be highly motivated after losing in the championship game of their conference tournament. It also does not hurt that they have arguably the best player in the country to lean on if things start going sideways.