On Sunday, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament ended in the worst possible fashion for USC fans: with rival UCLA winning the national championship. For the first time in the NCAA era, the championship trophy resides across town in Westwood.
So what does this means for USC?
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Not fun
Let’s start with the obvious: This is not good for USC fans. Any time that the school across town wins anything, it is not particularly fun. To see them win their first national championship in either football or basketball in the past 50 years is particularly rough.
Level of respect
On some level, though, even the most diehard Trojans can respect what Cori Close and UCLA accomplished. The Bruins built up the program over many years, gradually improving over time. After several instances of coming up short, this current senior class stuck together and was finally able to break through.
Serve as motivation
Ultimately, however, this should serve as motivation for the Women of Troy moving forward. For the first time in more than 40 years, UCLA has won a national championship more recently than USC. Hence, the Bruins now have bragging rights over the Trojans.
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Going into the 2026-2027 season, USC’s goal should be extremely simple: change that. The only way for the Women of Troy to establish dominance over their crosstown foes once again is to get to the top of the sport themselves.
A football example
For a recent exam you this, we can look to college football. In 2023, Michigan win the national championship after three straight wins over rival Ohio State. The following year, the Buckeyes responded with a title of their own.
Juju Watkins against UCLA
Finally, it should be noted that when Juju Watkins was healthy, USC went 4-2 against this UCLA core. With Watkins set to return to the court next season and the Bruins losing essentially all of the production from their championship team, things are certainly in position for the Trojans to take back Los Angeles women’s basketball in 2026-2027.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: UCLA women’s basketball’s championship should motivate USC for 2027
