68 teams were announced and seeded for the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The USC Trojans were not one of the teams named to the NCAA Tournament.
USC finished the regular season in second place and made it to the Pac-12 Tournament final where they were defeated by Arizona, However it wasn’t enough in the committee’s eyes to earn them a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Throughout the week USC hung around the bubble, however they were the last 4 into the NCAA Tournament with Jerry Palm from CBS Sports being the only one who had the Trojans out. Some will point to USC’s lack of quality wins against tournament teams being a determining factor where teams like Arizona State had quality wins early in the season, despite the Sun Devils struggling down the stretch, finishing ninth in the Pac-12, and being bounced in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament.