In the Before Times of a pre-COVID world, the USC and UCLA men’s basketball teams would be preparing for Friday Sweet 16 showdowns with Oregon and Alabama, respectively.
But these are not normal times, which means the Trojans and Bruins — Sweet 16 participants in the same year for the first time since 2007 — will not resume their NCAA men’s tournament drives until Sunday, with the opportunity to advance to Tuesday Elite Eight matchups in Indianapolis.
In past men’s tournaments, the Sweet 16 began on Thursday and continued into Friday, with four games each night packed into two television slots.