Sounding Off:

It’s strange watching the NCAA men’s basketball tournament without seeing either UCLA or USC on the court.

At least one of the two schools has participated in 45 of the last 50 March Madness extravaganzas. The Bruins played in 15 in a row from 1967 through 1981 and have won an NCAA best 11 national championships. While lacking UCLA’s storied history, USC made the tournament between 2007 and 2009, winning three games in that span.

This year, though, was the perfect storm for both schools.

At USC, DeMar DeRozan and Daniel Hackett declared early for the draft, then Coach Tim Floyd resigned after reports surfaced that O.J. Mayo received improper benefits while at USC.

New Coach Kevin O’Neill took over, only to discover that two of his players, Leonard Washington (academics) and Mike Gerrity (transfer), wouldn’t be able to play until the second semester.

Despite those challenges, USC beat eighth-ranked Tennessee by 22 points and 20th-ranked University of Nevada, Los Vegas by 11 and won its first two Pac-10 games.

Then on Jan. 5, USC brought the hammer down with self-imposed sanctions that banned the team from postseason, took away a scholarship for two years and limited recruiting. But O’Neill’s team persevered to win 16 games and tie for fifth place in the conference. Heckuva job, considering the circumstances.

At UCLA, Ben Howland’s El Nino began when he lost a per-game average of 52 points and 20 rebounds of production with the graduation of Darren Collison, Alfred Aboya and Josh Shipp and the surprising early departure to the NBA of point guard Jrue Holiday. Then top recruit Tyler Honeycutt injured his back and shin, point guard Jerime Anderson hurt his hip and center Drew Gordon quit the team six games into the season. It all added up to a disappointing 14-18 finish.

Despite the storms, don’t expect to see the Trojans and Bruins missing out on March Madness that often in the future.

The Trojan coaching staff has done an excellent job recruiting in the face of the self-imposed sanctions. O’Neill brought in transfer Jio Fontan, the former Atlantic-10 rookie of the year at Fordham, to replace the departed Gerrity. Fontan averaged 15 points and 4.7 assists as a freshman at Fordham and brings the toughness and athleticism O’Neill wants at the position.

The Trojans also signed scoring point guard Maurice Jones from Saginaw, Mich., and added a local scoring machine from Taft High School in 6-foot-5 Bryce Jones. Incoming freshmen Curtis Washington and Garret Jackson will provide relief for returning starters Alex Stepheson and Nikola Vucevic.

The 6-foot-10 Vucevic has a chance to be special after leading the Pac-10 in rebounding this year.

The UCLA coaching staff has admitted they made some mistakes in recent recruiting, but they have been much more effective in recruiting next year’s incoming class.

Howland’s teams averaged 30 wins per season the previous four years because they played tough, relentless defense and had great point guards.

Point guard was a mess this year with Anderson’s injuries and inconsistency, and Malcolm Lee’s challenges making the switch from shooting guard.

Howland looks to fill that gap next year by bringing in one of the top junior college point guards in the nation, Lazeric Jones, a strong, physical player who looks like a halfback and attacks the rim like he’s going for the end zone.

The Bruins also signed two All-Americans: Tyler Lamb from Mater Dei, a perfect wing for the UCLA system, and 6-foot-10, 300-pound Josh Smith from Kentwood, Wash. I had a chance to watch Smith while I was doing Pac-10 games in Seattle, and the big guy has great hands and feet and should start immediately. UCLA fans could look at a lineup next year of Smith in the middle with 6-foot-8 Reeves “Raging Bull” Nelson at the power forward and multi-talented 6-foot-7 Honeycutt at the wing, with either Lee or Lamb at off guard and Jones at the point. Lee must work on his shot to give the Bruins the perimeter threat they lose with the graduation of Michael Roll.

The depth would come from Anderson, Brendan Lane and Anthony Stover. One other note: UCLA is also still pursuing high school All-Americans Terrence Jones from Portland, Ore., and Ray McCallum from Michigan. If they land either one of those kids, you’re looking at a top five recruiting class and a preseason top 25 ranking.

Yes, it looks like the storm may be passing for UCLA and USC basketball. While it was an off year, these are two programs that could turn things around in a hurry.

What is it they say about April showers? Maybe the Trojans and Bruins needed a little rain to get their flowers to bloom.

OCLNN columnist STEVE PHYSIOC is a professional radio and television broadcaster, most recently for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and an Orange County resident.