Eleven months ago, USC was a bottom-dwelling team in what was widely considered a middling major-college basketball conference. The Trojans had sunk so low that, after one particularly dispiriting loss, Coach Andy Enfield used the post-game news conference for an impromptu defense of his program.
"We are so excited for this group," Enfield said. "We are so optimistic that we're going to be an excellent basketball team in the Pac-12."
At the time, it was difficult to tell if even Enfield believed it. Arizona had a stranglehold on the conference.