NCAA Tournament bracketology: USC moving off the bubble, into projected field

The Trojans finish the regular season this week against two of the top teams in the Pac-12, Arizona and Arizona State

Following a sweep of the mountain schools, USC has improved its NCAA Tournament credentials. But with two regular season games remaining, there is still work to be done to punch a ticket to the Big Dance.

CBS Sports analyst Jerry Palm updated his projected bracket on Monday and moved USC from a No. 11 to a No. 10 seed. He predicts that the Trojans will play No. 7 seed Texas A&M in a first round game in Denver. 

The website bracketmatrix.com inputs bracket predictions from analysts all across the country. Of the 89 brackets posted as of Feb. 26, USC is listed in 86 of the projections.

The Trojans finish the regular season this week against two of the top teams in the Pac-12, Arizona and Arizona State. Going 1-1 would most likely keep USC in the NCAA Tournament field. 

USC and Arizona are currently tied for second place in the Pac-12 with 13-5 conference records. If the Trojans go 2-0 this week, they'll finish in second place in the Pac-12 and virtually lock up an NCAA Tournament bid. 

After USC beat Cal 97-60 on Feb. 16, USC head coach Andy Enfield was asked whether he looks at tournament predictions from analysts. He responded:

"We look at [the projections] to an extent. The NET rankings are one metric the selection committee will use. The NET doesn't make much sense to me sometimes because you see some teams that haven't beaten a Power Six team all year and their NET is in the top 20 in the country. How does that happen? I think they'll make the best decision when the season is done. We have a lot of basketball left so we don't get too worried about the bracketologists or the NET right now. Right now, what we're concerned about is improving as a team and controlling what we can control because we have some great opportunities ahead of us."

USC currently sits at No. 45 in the NET rankings. The Trojans are No. 32 in KenPom.