When Lindsay Gottlieb put together a nonconference schedule she believed to be the hardest in the country, USC’s coach knew it would be an uphill climb. But that was the point. She wanted her team to be tested nightly, to play on “the biggest stages”.
“It’s not a schedule designed to win every nonconference game by an average of 40 points,” Gottlieb said earlier this month.
But after losing twice through a five-game gauntlet to start the season, a 40-point, nonconference win was precisely what the doctor ordered for the Trojans on Tuesday.
Any pent-up frustration still lingering from USC’s last-second loss to Notre Dame was promptly taken out on Tennessee Tech in an 85-44 win for the Trojans.