To be sure, UCLA men’s basketball has not been great the past two seasons. Mick Cronin has achieved nothing more than a No. 7 seed and a pair of second-round exits. Yet, compared to UCLA, USC under Eric Musselman has obviously been worse. The Trojans have failed to even make the NCAA Tournament in Muss’s first two seasons on the job in Los Angeles. Why, then, has Muss been able to outflank Cronin in assembling a quality roster for the 2026-2027 college basketball season?
UCLA Wire editor Dylan McNeill tried to give UCLA the benefit of the doubt, but he ultimately finds it hard to say that the Bruins have the better roster than the Trojans for the coming hoops season:
“It’s tough to say that the Eric Musselman-led USC Trojans will be better than UCLA but that’s only because it hasn’t happened yet. USC continues to put together impressive rosters yet those rosters haven’t resulted in successful teams. It appears that things will change in the 2026-2027 season,” McNeill wrote. “While USC keeps adding talent, UCLA has had a very quiet offseason. Looking at the UCLA roster, it’s hard to envision the team making a deep run in March, or even competing with the better teams in the Big Ten Conference.
“After such a drama-filled season, it’s surprising to see Mick Cronin and the Bruins bring in such unheralded transfers ahead of a very important season for Cronin and the program. While Cronin has yet to lose to Musselman during their time in Los Angeles, it appears that the quality of talent will lead to that occurring, at least once, in this upcoming season.”
It really is striking, as McNeill notes, how quiet UCLA’s offseason has been in a year when Cronin urgently needs to improve. Cronin should consider himself lucky he is still employed at UCLA. He is falling far short of what fans and boosters expect. Musselman, on the other hand, has built a roster which looks like a Sweet 16-caliber group. USC basketball has its best roster since Andy Enfield’s 2021 Elite Eight team headlined by Evan Mobley. How quickly things change.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: UCLA analyst worried that USC might surpass Bruins in men’s basketball
Reporting by Matt Zemek, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
