You won’t see any sort of “Fight for L.A.” marketing campaign around USC or UCLA in the coming months.
Both of their men’s basketball teams have much bigger aspirations than a city championship. USC was picked second in the Pac-12 Conference preseason media poll, trailing only Arizona and happily sitting one spot ahead of that blue-and-gold rival from across town.
“It’s always great to see USC above UCLA in anything, honestly,” Trojans senior guard Jordan McLaughlin said.
It is the highest standing for USC in the history of a preseason poll that goes back to the 1989-90 season.