LOS ANGELES — Basketball in Southern California is having a moment.
No. 3 USC has a generational sophomore in JuJu Watkins. With transfers like Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen, they are favorites not only to win the Big Ten title but are expected to make the Final Four and give No. 1 South Carolina a good fight for the national championship.
The Trojans are getting plenty of attention, but the No. 5 UCLA Bruins are just as good. They are led by junior center Lauren Betts and have come out with an impressive 3-0 start to the season, with no team testing them just yet.
On the surface, these two teams have a lot in common. Both are highly ranked, play in the Big Ten and call Los Angeles home. The similarities, however, stop there. They are best of enemies, two sides of the same coin. UCLA plays in Pauley Pavilion in the affluent Westwood neighborhood, while USC plays in the Galen Center near downtown Los Angeles. The Bruins wear bright blue and gold, and their stadium illuminates so much that you’d think the sun is feeding off of them, rather than the other way around. The Trojans step onto the court in gold and cardinal red, but there’s plenty of dark tones inside their stadium, giving the feeling of watching a basketball game in a well-lit movie theater.
On…
