The Big Ten Road Schedule Is the Whole Season
USC basketball's ceiling isn't set at Galen Center. It's set in the buildings where the Trojans have never had to win before.
Home games take care of themselves. The Galen Center crowd is fine, the shooting numbers are up, and the team is comfortable. That’s not where the season gets decided.
It gets decided on a Tuesday night in January, in a gym at altitude or in a building where the student section has been planning for you since October.
What travels and what doesn’t
Defense and rebounding travel. Jump shooting does not. A team that wins on the road is a team that can get a stop and secure the ball when the threes stop falling — and on the road, they always stop falling for a stretch.
The three-game stretch to circle
There’s a February run of three road games in eight days against tournament teams. That’s the stretch that will tell us whether this is a 6-seed or a team sweating Selection Sunday.
Get to that stretch healthy and it’s a good season. Split it and it’s a great one.