As Floyd sees it, they’re unbeaten in Pac-10 play!

The Pacific 10 Conference standings written in black on the grease board in the USC locker room Monday looked a lot more appealing to the Trojans than the ones printed in black type in newspapers up and down the West Coast.

In the official conference standings, USC (9-5 overall, 0-2 Pac-10) is tied with Oregon State (6-8, 0-2) for ninth place.

But according to the way USC Coach Tim Floyd tabulates the standings, the Trojans are in a three-way tie for fourth with Arizona State and Oregon State.

In Floyd’s formula, road victories are worth one point and home losses count as minus-one. Home victories and road losses do not figure into a team’s total.

Thus, the Trojans remain at zero despite being swept by Stanford and California in the Bay Area. Oregon State also remains at zero after being swept by the Arizona schools on the road and so does Arizona State, which won its first two home games.

UCLA, tied with Arizona State atop the official standings, leads Floyd’s Pac-10 standings at plus-two after its Bay Area sweep.

“Our players understand the standings as they’re published in our locker room versus those in the newspaper,” Floyd said. “I think that’s important because when things appear to be difficult, our guys understand it’s not as bleak as it might appear.”

Freshman guard O.J. Mayo said Floyd posted the standings “just to make sure we understand that we’ve got to protect our home court” Thursday against No. 4 Washington State (13-0, 1-0) and Saturday against Washington (9-5, 0-1) at the Galen Center.

Of course, there is little doubt which standings the NCAA tournament selection committee will consider come March.

“A lot of guys are mature enough to know that those standings don’t really mean much,” sophomore forward Taj Gibson said of Floyd’s standings. “We have to defend home and we have to play well if we want to make it to the NCAA tournament.”

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It only seemed as if there was a lid on the baskets Saturday at Maples Pavilion when USC shot 34.7% and Stanford 27% during the Cardinal’s 52-46 victory.

There actually were lids on the baskets Monday throughout the entire two-hour practice inside the Galen Center as the Trojans tried to improve their rebounding skills following a two-game stretch in which they averaged 11 fewer rebounds than their opponents.

“Stanford just drove right through us,” said Floyd, whose team was out-rebounded by 16 in the second half on Saturday. “They looked like the 1st Infantry coming to the glass.

“Sometimes they just bowled right through us, and you’ve got to be able to withstand that. Most of it’s want-to and anticipation.”

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Freshman center Mamadou Diarra, who has played only 10 minutes combined in three games this season since returning from hernia surgery, said he considered requesting a redshirt season but was told by the coaching staff that he would be needed as the season progresses. The 7-footer experienced tightness in his groin last week that limited him in practice and did not play in the Trojans’ first two Pac-10 games, but he said he would be available this week. . . . Freshman guard Angelo Johnson did not practice after experiencing back spasms but said he expected to return today. . . . The Trojans, who were ranked No. 22 last week, fell out of the Associated Press poll.

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