The Washington Huskies men's basketball team didn't have the season many fans expected going into the 2025-26 campaign.

The Huskies entered the year with a completely re-tooled roster that featured just two returners from 2024-25. The newcomers featured a combination of upperclassmen and talented first-year players, including All-Big Ten selection Hannes Steinbach.

Despite the talent on the roster, Washington has been plagued with injuries that not only has left the roster and available scholarship players in a constant state of flux, it's also resulted in the team often not being able to run five-versus-five drills in practice, or players receiving game time who were unable to practice the days before.

All this turmoil has played out to the tune of a 15-16 overall record and a 7-13 mark in Big Ten competition.

This leaves a miracle run to a Big Ten championship win as the only path to the NCAA Tournament for the Huskies. UW is the No. 12 seed in the tournament, matching its regular season placement in the 18-team conference. The program hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament in a decade.

If there is a storybook ending to the disjointed book that is the 2025-26 season for Washington, it will start in the team's first game of the Big Ten Tournament against the 13th-seeded Southern California (USC) Trojans at 11:30 a.m. PT on Wednesday at the United Center in Chicago.

The Trojans are a team the Huskies have a lot of familiarity with -- and success against.

Washington has played USC twice this season and both were wins. The Huskies beat the Trojans 84-76 on Dec. 6 in Los Angeles and again March 4 in Seattle — a much-more lopsided 91-72 result.

Washington, as it has been almost the entire season, will be shorthanded against USC.

Senior center Franck Kepnang will be out with a stress reaction in his leg that has kept him out for the last four games.

Sophomore forward Bryson Tucker is also still away from the team for what head coach Danny Sprinkle has described as a "personal issue."

The Huskies will likely have no more than eight scholarship players available against the Trojans. This will require multiple players, such as Steinbach and sophomore guard Zoom Diallo, to continue to carry the lion's share of the offense for Washington.

Steinbach has averaged 18.6 points per game this year on 58.6% shooting and has also pulled in 11.6 rebounds per game.

Diallo has averaged 15.3 points per game this year on 49.2% shooting and has also added 4.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Of course, USC is shorthanded as well: Top scorer Chad Baker-Mazara is no longer with the program.

The game will air on Peacock and NBC Sports Network.

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