Wednesday night’s loss to Washington pretty much ensured that USC men’s basketball will not go to the NCAA Tournament in 2026. At this point, the Trojans are no longer close to earning an at-large berth, and thus their only chance of making March Madness would be to somehow win five games in five days at the Big Ten Tournament.

On Saturday night, USC will conclude its regular season with a Crosstown Showdown matchup against rival UCLA at Galen Center. On the surface, the contest means nothing for USC’s postseason hopes. Despite this, however, it is a massive game for the Trojans, and especially for head coach Eric Musselman.

For one, rivalry games are always meaningful, regardless of the circumstances. That is especially true for Musselman, who has yet to beat the school across town, currently holding a mark of 0-3 in the rivalry.

As I wrote following the Trojans’ blowout loss in Westwood last week, “The unfortunate reality is that the Trojans are now 0-3 against UCLA under head coach Eric Musselman, with two of the three losses coming in blowout fashion. It is not as though the Bruins have been anything special during that stretch, either—UCLA has been an above average Big Ten team at best over the past two seasons, with head coach Mick Cronin’s seat seemingly starting to heat up.

“The fact of the matter is, while men’s basketball has not always been the most successful or popular sport at USC, this particular game matters a lot to the fanbase. One of the main reasons that Andy Enfield lasted so long at USC despite never winning a conference title and limited NCAA Tournament success was because he regularly put UCLA in its place. If Musselman wants to win himself over to USC fans, he needs to find a way to beat the school across town.”

Barring a stunning run through the Big Ten Tournament next week, this season will go down as a major disappointment for USC. Finally getting his first victory over UCLA, however, would go a long way towards helping Musselman to alleviate some of the disappointment as the Trojans look to build for next season.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Despite no tournament stakes, UCLA is massive game for Eric Musselman

Reporting by Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect