Lunardi’s first bracket projection for the new year has USC among the first four out, alongside Wake Forest, Colorado and Saint Joseph’s. The last four in were set as Texas, Arizona State, Seton Hall and Monmouth.
In this bracket, the Pac-12 would have six teams represented in the tournament. Arizona is the conference’s highest-seeded team as a three seed followed by Oregon as a six seed, Cal as a seven seed, Utah as an eight seed, UCLA as a nine seed and ASU as an 11 seed.
The Trojans were on a seven-game winning streak, including an opening victory in Pac-12 play against Washington State, before blowing a 22-point lead versus Washington on Sunday afternoon.