I contacted Southern Cal’s media department, because holy shit, have you looked at the Trojans’ schedule through the first week of February?!
In three days, USC hosts UCLA, who look like a national finalist.
Next week, USC visits the Rocky Mountains for their hardest in-conference road trip.
End of January, USC hosts the Washingtons, the least predictable travel pair in the Pac-12, I think (and when I say unpredictable, I mean “great” or “just very good”).
Followed by the Bay Bridge swing through Palo Alto and Berkeley, where Cal is suddenly healthy enough to meet expectations.
I called Utah coach Roberts to plead for good news. Since we talked last, the Utes:
- Lost at Colorado (Roberts said the Buffaloes showed up with playoff intensity while the Utes were still in gear for Weber State);
- Limped past the Sun Devils at Arizona State (that was a miserable night; I was reminded that if I play chess on Friday nights, I should plan to watch Friday’s basketball games on Saturday);
- Lost at Arizona, partly to the Wildcats, partly to the officials, and partly to a team-wide stomach flu (one of Roberts’ outstanding Pacific teams was wiped out with food poisoning in Northridge, but the difference there, she said, was that the food poisoning subsided). “We had our chances to win; could’ve put it away in the 3rd”, Roberts said.
Utah’s reward for building character through adversity is hosting Stanford today, and a resurgent Cal Sunday. Next week, visiting southern California.
Last season during Utah’s Bay Area visit, when Stanford came up during conversation, the focus went immediately to the Cardinal’s size. That hasn’t changed, and Roberts and I agreed that Brink benefits for her mediagenic qualities.
Coach said that while Stanford lost Haley Jones (a unicorn, she said), they’ve got more 3-point shooting than before. I’ll say here that Hannah Jump looks relaxed lately, like those gunslingers who shoot between heartbeats.
The thing that is most scary about Stanford is they’re figuring it out. These Cardinal go on sudden, insane runs like they did a few years back. Stanford’s opponents might have been trailing by, say, 8, and feeling within striking distance. Then Stanford would run off a pair of 14-3 runs.
Utah needs help. Last year, we marveled at the Utes’ depth. Since conference play began this year, the bench looks thin.
Surely, all agree that in the absence of Kneepkens and Palmer, two or three or five others have to be more productive. None of the underclassmen looks eager to lead the way. “They kinda plateaud”, Coach said, with some uncertainty.
Coach said “it is what it is” a couple times. She doesn’t know what will happen tonight, or the state of the team’s togetherness in March.
I am sure of one future thing. Years from now, I will say: No one had any idea what would happen after Gianna broke her foot, and look what happened.