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1974, Bob Boyd, 24-5
From 1968 to 1974 SC finished second to Wooden's UCLA teams five times, with this being the only year UCLA did not win the Natty (lost to David Thompson and NC State in the F4). Win % wise the 4th best season in school history, and only lost three games to schools other than Bill Walton and UCLA. Led by SR Dan Anderson and JRs Gus Williams and John Lambert, USC opened the season by crushing #15 Arizona by 24. They lost at Utah, WSU and UCLA, but were undefeated at home and ranked 7th when they played 3 loss UCLA at home in the final game for the Conference championship. Alas, like so many other times it was a bitter end, with UCLA winning by 30 points. They went on to play in the first ever National Commissioners Invitational Tournament, a new eight team Tournament created for conference 2nd place finishers and driven in part by SC's 1971 24-2 team. SC beat SMU and Bradley to reach the Final against Bobby Knight and #11 Indiana, but lost by 25. The MVP was Kent Benson, and this Indiana team would go undefeated in 1976. This was the last year where the NCAA didn't have at large teams, so SC was a year too early with this squad.
From 1968 to 1974 SC finished second to Wooden's UCLA teams five times, with this being the only year UCLA did not win the Natty (lost to David Thompson and NC State in the F4). Win % wise the 4th best season in school history, and only lost three games to schools other than Bill Walton and UCLA. Led by SR Dan Anderson and JRs Gus Williams and John Lambert, USC opened the season by crushing #15 Arizona by 24. They lost at Utah, WSU and UCLA, but were undefeated at home and ranked 7th when they played 3 loss UCLA at home in the final game for the Conference championship. Alas, like so many other times it was a bitter end, with UCLA winning by 30 points. They went on to play in the first ever National Commissioners Invitational Tournament, a new eight team Tournament created for conference 2nd place finishers and driven in part by SC's 1971 24-2 team. SC beat SMU and Bradley to reach the Final against Bobby Knight and #11 Indiana, but lost by 25. The MVP was Kent Benson, and this Indiana team would go undefeated in 1976. This was the last year where the NCAA didn't have at large teams, so SC was a year too early with this squad.