{"id":569748,"date":"2026-01-30T01:40:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T01:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/569748\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T01:40:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T01:40:26","slug":"usc-womens-basketball-popularity-hits-an-unexpected-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/569748\/","title":{"rendered":"USC Women’s Basketball Popularity Hits an Unexpected High"},"content":{"rendered":"

The USC Trojans women\u2019s basketball team have not been able to overcome the absence of superstar guard JuJu Watkins this season. Watkins tore her ACL in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and is not going to be suiting up for the 2025-26 season as she focuses on recovery for 2026-27. <\/p>\n

Despite their 11-9 record, the Trojans are still one of the biggest TV ratings draws in the country. <\/p>\n

USC Third Most Watched Team in Country \"USC<\/p>\n

Nov 9, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Southern California Trojans guard Jazzy Davidson (9) dribbles the ball against the NC State Wolfpack during the fourth quarter of the Ally Tipoff game at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

On3 revealed Nielsen\u2019s 10 most watched teams in women\u2019s college basketball this season. USC is third. Here is the complete top 10:<\/p>\n

1. Iowa State Cyclones
2. Iowa Hawkeyes
3. USC Trojans
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
5. Oklahoma State Cowboys
6. Maryland Terrapins
7. Michigan Wolverines
8. Texas Longhorns
9. South Carolina Gamecocks
10. Baylor Bears<\/p>\n

Iowa State may not be ranked, but they do have the nation\u2019s leading scorer in center Audi Crooks. Crooks is averaging 26.3 points a game. The Cyclones have a 16-5 record and are currently a 10-seed in ESPN\u2019s most recent bracketology. <\/p>\n

The other team ahead of USC is Iowa. The Hawkeyes were by far the most watched team in women’s college basketball whey they had superstar guard Caitlin Clark from 2020-2024. Clark has since been drafted into the WNBA, but the Hawkeyes are still getting a bump from her time there. The Hawkeyes currently are ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25 Poll. <\/p>\n

USC being third wouldn\u2019t have been a surprise if Watkins was playing and the Trojans were ranked, but that has not been the case this season. The 11-9 Trojans are on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament as of now, but have played in three of the ten highest rated games this season. <\/p>\n

MORE: Most Impactful Early Enrollee Recruit for USC Trojans<\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: Sam Darnold Makes History in Seattle’s NFC Championship Win<\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: USC’s Makai Lemon Paired With Underrated NFL Quarterback In Recent Mock Draft<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER HERE!<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

USC Missing JuJu Watkins \"USC<\/p>\n

Oct 11, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans basketball player JuJu Watkins was on hand as she was named the tunnel captain the the game against the Michigan Wolverines at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Without Watkins, USC has been led by freshman guard Jazzy Davison. The former five-star recruit leads USC in points (16.0), rebounds (6.4), and assists (4.0) per game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s disappointing that Davidson will not be able to share the backcourt with Watkins this season, but she is getting experience being the No. 1 option for the Trojans which she should benefit from moving forward. <\/p>\n

With Watkins likely coming back next season barring her declaring for the 2026 WNBA Draft, USC may have the best backcourt duo in the country with Watkins and Davidson. <\/p>\n

\"USC<\/p>\n

Nov 9, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Southern California Trojans guard Jazzy Davidson (9) shoots a basket against the NC State Wolfpack during the third quarter of the Ally Tipoff game at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Before getting injured last season, as a sophomore, Watkins averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. She was named the Naismith College Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year, and won the John Wooden Award. USC earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and was among the favorites to win the whole thing. That ended in the second round when Watkins went down. <\/p>\n

Her injury was a crushing blow not only for the Trojans\u2019 national championship hopes last season, but also this season. If Watkins returns to playing the way she did as a freshman and sophomore, USC will be right back in the thick of the national title race in 2026-27. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The USC Trojans women\u2019s basketball team have not been able to overcome the absence of superstar guard JuJu…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,231,772,1544],"class_list":["post-569748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-college-basketball","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-basketball","tag-ncaab"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115981505949408562","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}