In the 2008 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament, the Trojans lost to UCLA, featuring Kevin Love, in the semi-finals.

In his NCAA tournament debut with the Trojans, Mayo scored 20 points as USC was beaten by Kansas State and freshman Michael Beasley.

Seeding in brackets [5] [6] On January 3, 2010, USC announced it would punish the Men's Basketball Program for rules violations committed in the 2007–2008 season, when O. J. Mayo attended USC and Tim Floyd was still the head coach.

* [7] Since the initial announcement reported by ESPN, USC clarified that all wins during the 2007–2008 season, including any wins during the Pac-10 Conference tournament, would be vacated and not forfeited, meaning USC's record for 2007–2008 is 0–12, not 1–32 as previously reported.

[8] Noel M. Ragsdale, law professor, University of Southern California, is the chair of the five-member Division I Infractions Appeals Committee, which hears and acts on the findings of major violations by the Division I Committee on Infractions.