The USC vs. UConn debate keeps getting hotter! Ever since JuJu Watkins joined the Trojans, USC has been giving the Huskies a hard time even if they have historically only lost to the school. But recently, history was rewritten as Watkins and Co. defeated Geno Auriemma’s squad, taking revenge on their last season’s Elite Eight defeat. After moving up in the AP rankings, USC is still dominating UConn.

In this week’s Monday rankings, the two schools took each other’s spots – UConn shifted down to No. 7 whereas USC went up three spots to No. 4. Now, USA TODAY Sports Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll sees USC at the No. 5 spot, climbing two spots, whereas UConn is now at the No. 7 spot. It looks like Auriemma is having a tough week of holidays!

It’s at least better than last Christmas though; USC was still in the 5th spot but UConn was far down at the 17th spot as per the Dec. 26th, 2023, poll. But then, Watkins was still a freshman getting used to the rigors of college basketball.

After the school’s statement road win against this powerhouse, the USC sophomore is now the Big Ten Player of the Week as well as both AP and USBWA’s National Player of the Week.

What’s more, FOX Sports revealed that the last game before Christmas averaged 2.23 million viewers, peaking at over 3.3 million, on the network, the second most-watched women’s college basketball game ever for them, the first one of course being Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes beat Ohio State in March with 3.39 million viewers.

The USC-UConn game was also the most-watched women’s college basketball game on any network this season.

While it was the Trojans vs. Huskies, it was also a battle of two of the most exciting players to watch in women’s college basketball. Geno Auriemma said on Friday before the game that both of these players are important for the game and they will affect it differently.

“I do think both of them are going to have a tremendous effect on the game. How they affect the game is going to be really, really important.”

At the same time, he also knows how his star senior would fare against the USC sophomore and it’s not in his favor!

Geno Auriemma was glad it wasn’t Bueckers vs. Watkins one on one

Paige Bueckers is most likely going to be the No. 1 WNBA Draft Pick in 2025 the way her trajectory is going upward. JuJu Watkins will probably occupy the same position when she’s W-eligible in 2027. Each player has her own strengths but one on one, even Geno Auriemma knows his Huskies star would be hard-pressed to win against the Trojans changemaker.

“I try to not put any more undue pressure on her,” Auriemma said before the game. “Other than I said today that this isn’t a JuJu [vs.] Paige game. I said ‘Thank God… it’s not JuJu against Paige one-on-one, because JuJu would kick her a–.'”

When asked about the same, Bueckers smiled at the reporter and said he had told her the same at practice as well and didn’t seem too miffed about it. Interestingly, the two guards are neck-in-neck even when it comes to their on-court numbers.

Watkins is averaging 24.8 points on 46.2% shooting from the field with 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. On the other hand, Bueckers is averaging 20.8 ppg on 56.3% shooting with 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.

Even if each of these two tallied the same points, what would matter at the end was how the rest of the team scored. Individual talent is important, but it’s five players on the court at a time!