This week, UConn is 25th in the AP, UCLA is 27th, Colorado 28th, and USC 30th. I read one member’s logic of how he voted, and found it interesting, and also revealing of the implicit bias a program like USC faces.

In his column, Berman says he put UConn at 25 due to their wins over Marquette and Butler. Marquette is 6-6, and Butler is 3-6. He also credits them for their win over USC.

And Berman actually ranks UCLA at 21, crediting their wins against Arizona (9-3) and ASU (4-5), as well as 6-6 Marquette. He does not use this logic to credit USC for wins against the same two teams, by larger margins, or for the win against 9-3 BYU.

USC is 16 in the NET, while UConn is 21, and UCLA is 31. Colorado is 11, but they also have one more loss. Obviously there is a lot of nuance here (UCLA beat Colorado who USC lost to). But it seems to me UConn and UCLA are given more recognition for equal or lesser victories than USC. Just an example of the uphill PR battle USC bball had to face.