For the first time in over two decades, USC baseball is headed to a super regional! The Trojans are off to North Carolina, where they will battle the Tar Heels of UNC in the Chapel Hill Super Regional beginning on Friday.
A lot has changed in the world since USC last made it this far in the NCAA Tournament. So let’s go back to 2005 and recall what the world looked like the last time that the Trojans played in a super regional.
Carroll, Leinart, and Bush were dominating on the football field
2005 was a great time to be a USC fan. The Trojans had just won their second consecutive national championship under head coach Pete Carroll, with quarterback Matt Leinart also taking home the Heisman Trophy. With Leinart and star running back Reggie Bush both back for another season, dreams of a historic three-peat were alive and well in Los Angeles.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor of California
While best known for his acting career, Schwarzenegger also spent more than seven years as California’s governor. I wonder if he watched any of USC’s tournament games while he was up in Sacramento.
Mariah Carey topped the charts
The number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time was Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together”.
Madagascar was released
While the Trojans were gearing up for their tournament run, the world was introduced to Alex the Lion and his friends for the first time.
Tom Brady won his third Super Bowl
A few months prior, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the New England Patriots cemented their status as a dynasty by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX. Ironically, Belichick is now the head coach at North Carolina. Perhaps he will be in attendance when the Trojans come to town this weekend.
The NHL lockout cancelled the season
June is championship season, with numerous major sports crowning champions during the month. Unfortunately, the NHL was not one of them that year, as the lockout cancelled the league’s 2004-2005 season. (This year, the Stanley Cup Final opens this week in Raleigh, North Carolina, less than 25 miles from where USC will be playing in Chapel Hill.)
Juju Watkins had not been born yet
When the Trojans traveled up to Oregon State for the Corvallis Super Regional in June of 2005, the USC women’s basketball superstar was still more than a month away from being born.
I attended my first baseball game
So where was I at the time? Why, I was four years old and finishing up the year of preschool at the JCC in Wayland, Massachusetts.
June 2005 was also the month that my parents took me to my first ever baseball game. No, it was not USC, though—it was Red Sox-Angels at Fenway Park.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: What did the world look like the last time USC made a super regional?
Reporting by Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire | USA TODAY Network
