USC Women's Basketball: Trojans Dip In Final AP Poll Of Season

After a successful season, USC women's basketball ends the 2023-2024 campaign ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25 poll. The Trojans have dropped down two spots from their last ranking at No. 3 overall.

This lower ranking comes after the Trojans fell just short of making the NCAA Final Four in their 80-73 Elite Eight loss to UConn. Only South Carolina (No. 1), Iowa (No. 2), UConn (No. 3) and NC State (No. 4) have been ranked higher than USC, making the Trojans the best-regarded team who did not make the Final Four.

Overall, this is a huge jump from where the Trojans began the season, ranked just No. 21 in the country. USC was not expected to have this good of a season, and have instead pleasantly surprised pundits by becoming one of the top five teams in the country.

USC began their season red-hot, jumping out to a 10-0 record. They sustained a few losses after this strong start, but won nine of their last ten games. They carried this momentum through the conference championships, winning the final Pac-12 title. The Trojans followed this up by advancing all the way to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1994. While they of course wish they could have made the Final Four, they still put together an incredible season.

This season is not expected to be a fluke either. Though the Trojans are losing some key players, they are expected to bring in potentially the best recruiting class in the nation next year. Combine that with an even more experienced JuJu Watkins and Rayah Marshall, and USC should have a chance at finishing next year even higher than No. 5.