What USC Spent to Build Its No. 21 Basketball Team

USC men’s basketball is heading into the college basketball season ranked 21st in the AP Top 25, but what did it cost the Trojans to get there?

CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander and Isaac Trotter talked to more than 100 sources over nearly six weeks to estimate the cost of building a “high-major college basketball roster.”

According to their findings, USC spent an estimated 15.1 million to 17.5 million dollars to assemble its team.

Overall, Power Five programs, along with Gonzaga, averaged $13.5 million in roster spending. Gonzaga was included because the Bulldogs have competed with the nation's top programs for years.

Norlander and Trotter separated their findings into seven tiers, ranging from more than $20 million in Tier 1 to $7 million or less in Tier 7.

USC Ranks in Tier 3 Heading Into the 2026 Season

CBS ranked the Trojans in Tier 3, with spending of $15.1 million to $17.5 million, alongside programs such as Arizona, Gonzaga, Michigan State and Vanderbilt.

The Wildcats enter the season with +1600 odds to win the national championship, while the Bulldogs, Spartans and Commodores sit at +2000, +3000 and +4500, respectively.

USC’s willingness to invest in the program has the Trojans at +6500 odds to win it all.

How Did the Big Ten Conference Rank Against the Other Conferences in Spending?

Among conferences, the Big Ten ranked third in average roster spending at $12.7 million.

The Southeastern Conference earned the top spot with an average of $17.3 million spent on rosters, followed by the Big East at $13.6 million.

The Big Ten averaged 12.7 million dollars in roster spending, putting USC at least 2.4 million dollars above the conference average based on the Trojans' estimated spending range of 15.1 million to 17.5 million dollars.

Only three Big Ten programs ranked higher than USC.

Defending national champion Michigan and Illinois landed in Tier 1, spending more than 20 million dollars, while Indiana ranked in Tier 2 at just under 20 million dollars.

USC used the resources to secure the 26 portal and 10 recruiting classes in 2026.

USC's investment helped the Trojans secure the nation's No. 26 transfer portal class, according to 247Sports.

Four-star small forward KJ Lewis, who transferred from Georgetown, headlined the group after ranking No. 39 nationally and No. 6 among small forwards.

Four-star center Eric Reibe also joined the Trojans as a top-100 addition, ranking No. 76 nationally and No. 12 among centers.

The Trojans were also able to land the 10th-ranked recruiting class in the country, bringing in four commits, including five-star Christian Collins.

The St. John Bosco High School product from Bellflower, California, was the No. 10 player in the country, the No. 3-ranked power forward and the No. 2 player in the state of California.

USC appears to have used its resources effectively, assembling a roster with the size and physicality to create matchup problems for opposing teams.

“The positional size for USC is staggering,” Jon Rothstein said. “I’ve been all over the country the past couple of weeks. Other than Texas, USC might be the most impressive physical team that I’ve seen in terms of their size, their physicality, and just really how physically imposing they are.”

The Trojans enter the 2026-27 season with just three returning players from a 2025-26 team that finished 18-14 and missed the NCAA Tournament.

USC closed the season with eight consecutive losses, including a blown double-digit lead against Washington in the Big Ten Tournament.

USC has given Eric Musselman the resources to build a roster capable of competing with the nation's best.  

Now, he must prove the investment was worth making by leading the Trojans back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022-23 and in Musselman tenure.