Southern California schools didn't feel much love from coaches around the country.
USC was the only school from the region to rank in the inaugural USA TODAY Men's Basketball Coaches Poll of the year, coming in at No. 22. The UCLA Bruins didn't land in the top 25 but did receive 64 votes, the second most of any unranked team. NorCal didn't fare any better, with neither Cal nor Stanford
anywhere to be found.The Trojans come into 2026-27 with high expectations – despite their late-season collapse in March and Eric Musselman embroiled in litigation surrounding Chad Baker-Mazara's exit from the program – after bringing in seven transfers and the nation's No. 5 recruiting class according to ESPN, headlined by 6-foot-8 power forward Christian Collins,
the No. 10 recruit in the country out of St. John Bosco (California) High School. They've also added Adonis and Darius Ratliff, a pair of four-star big men and sons of former NBA player Theo Ratliff.
Out of the three returning players, by far the most intriguing is Alijah Arenas. The 6-7 guard was limited to just 14 games in his freshman year after a serious car accident and a later unrelated meniscus tear derailed his timeline. He was thrown into the fire in the midst of Big Ten play and looked like a freshman most of the time despite flashes of potential. Now, he's had a whole offseason to get acclimated and should figure heavily into Musselman's plans.
The Bruins, meanwhile, will need to find a way to replace the production of outgoing forward Tyler Bildeau, their leading scorer in each of the past two seasons who was drafted 43rd overall by the Brooklyn Nets in June. They're an experienced squad with seniors Eric Dailey Jr. and Xavier Booker having played 100 and 96 career games, respectively.
There's also an injection of youth coming to UCLA in the form of four freshmen: Javonte Floyd, Gunars Grinvalds, Nikola Kusturica and Joe Philon III. Jordan Houegban, a junior, is another newcomer to the roster after having spent the previous two years as a student manager for the team.
Overall, five Big Ten teams made the top 25 – No. 3 Illinois, No. 6 Michigan State, No. 20 Michigan, No. 22 USC and No. 25 Purdue. UCLA was joined by Nebraska, Ohio State, Indiana, Wisconsin and Maryland as Big Ten teams that received votes.
USC opens their season against Milwaukee on Monday, Nov. 2 at Galen Center while UCLA begins with a neutral site clash against Arizona in Las Vegas.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USC ranked No. 22 in USA TODAY Coaches Poll; UCLA just misses top 25
