USC basketball: A first look at the Trojans’ 2011-12 nonconference schedule
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
At this time of year, college basketball officials from every team are wheeling and dealing to finalize their schedules for next season. Some proposed deals go through, some fall through.
Under Kevin O’Neill, who just finished his second season as USC men’s basketball coach, the Trojans have made aggressive attempts to beef up their nonconference schedule with plenty of heavyweights.
For instance, in O’Neill’s first season, USC played at Texas and Georgia Tech and then in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.
And this past season, the Trojans hosted Texas, played at Kansas and Tennessee and also played in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic, which included games played on participants’ home courts and also in Springfield, Mass.
Though there are still a few kinks to work out of the schedule for the 2011-12 season, such as tipoff times and opponents for a few games, people close to the program have provided details as to the Trojans’ nonconference schedule -- and this is the most finalized version of it as of Thursday.
(Note: The opposing school’s overall record from its 2010-11 season is posted next to that school’s name. USC finished with a 19-15 record last season and advanced to the NCAA tournament, where it lost to eventual Final Four participant Virginia Commonwealth.)
Friday, Nov. 11: USC vs. Cal State Northridge (14-18) Wednesday, Nov. 16: USC at San Diego State (34-3)
Saturday, Nov. 19: USC vs. Cal Poly (15-15) at Galen Center as part of the Las Vegas Invitational
Tuesday, Nov. 22: USC vs. TBD at Galen Center as part of the Las Vegas Invitational
Friday, Nov. 25: USC vs. Nevada Las Vegas (24-9) at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas as part of the Las Vegas Invitational
Saturday, Nov. 26: The winner of the USC-Nevada Las Vegas game will play the winner of the North Carolina (29-8)-South Carolina (14-16) game at Orleans Arena as part of the Las Vegas Invitational; the losing teams of those two games will also play each other.
Wednesday, Nov. 30: USC at UC Riverside (12-19)
Saturday, Dec. 3: USC at TBD
Wednesday, Dec. 7: USC vs. TBD
Saturday, Dec. 10: USC vs. New Mexico (22-13)
Saturday, Dec. 17: USC vs. Georgia (22-11)
Thursday, Dec. 22: USC vs. Kansas (35-3)
The Kansas game, which is scheduled to be played at the Galen Center, should be USC’s last game before it begins Pacific 12 Conference play the following week.
And as previously reported in The Times, USC also has unofficial plans to play five games in 12 days in Brazil against Brazilian pro teams in August.
ALSO:
Who will win next year’s NCAA men’s tournament?
Shaka Smart agrees to eight-year deal to stay at VCU
-- Baxter Holmes