USC women's basketball may have come up short in their quest for a national title in 2024-2025. At least USC fans can take satisfaction in the fact that the Trojans' rivals did not get there, either. At the 2025 Final Four, crosstown foe UCLA was blown out 85-51 by UConn in the national semifinals, ending the Bruins' season.
UCLA's season wound up ending the same exact way that USC's did: with a loss to the Huskies. While the Bruins can say that they made it to the Final Four, the Trojans actually put up a far tougher fight against UConn without Juju Watkins than UCLA did at full strength. USC lost by only 14 and was legitimately competitive, down by only five heading into the fourth quarter. UCLA lost by 34 in a game it trailed by 20 at halftime and by 23 after three quarters.
After watching Friday night's game, USC fans cannot help but wonder "what if?". Had Watkins not gotten hurt, the Trojans would have had a very good shot to take down UConn and advance to their first Final Four since the days of Cheryl Miller. Based on how Friday night's game went, USC may very well have handled its crosstown foe had the two teams met in Tampa.
UConn's 82-59 blasting of South Carolina on Sunday in the national championship game also gave us this added fact: USC was the only team to lose by fewer than 15 points to UConn in the 2025 Women's NCAA Tournament. Every other UConn opponent lost by at least 23. USC's effort against UConn in the Elite Eight won't get the national respect it deserves, but everyone in that USC locker room should feel proud of how well they competed ... unlike UCLA.
Alas, that is all hypotheticals. But while it was a heartbreaking end to the season for the Trojans, USC fans can at least take satisfaction in knowing that their rivals completely and totally flopped on the sport's biggest stage.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC and UCLA losses to UConn in Final Four were very different
