NCAA Men's Golf Championships 2015: Results, Leaderboard Standings from Saturday

The nation’s two-time defending national champion men’s golf team (Alabama) failed to make the cut at the Noblesville Regional, but USC, Illinois, Georgia and the rest of a loaded 30-team field made plenty of headlines Saturday at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, at the NCAA championships.

Perhaps the biggest headline is the fact that only one team is under par on the daunting course through two days of competition.

The Trojans sit in first place at two under, thanks largely to the efforts of Sean Crocker and Rico Hoey. 

While USC is clear of the rest of the field after Saturday's competition, there are plenty of squads still within striking distance. Here is a look at all of Saturday’s results, per NCAA.com:

Pos.	Team	Saturday Score	Total
1	USC	-3	-2
2	Illinois	+3	+1
T3	Georgia	+5	+5
T3	LSU	+1	+5
T5	South Florida	+3	+9
T5	Vanderbilt	-4	+9
7	Georgia Tech	+7	+12
T8	San Diego State	+11	+13
T8	TCU	+5	+13
10	Florida State	+4	+14

The Trojans seized the lead with a brilliant three-under-par showing Saturday and have a couple of youngsters to thank. Crocker is only a freshman and tallied a 69 with multiple clutch birdies. He also recovered from two early bogeys and did not notch anything worse than a par in the last 16 holes. 

His teammate, Hoey, who just so happens to be a sophomore, finished with an even par after a birdie on the final hole.

Crocker discussed his team's performance in light of the fact that only two of the five players have NCAA championship experience, per Brentley Romine of Golf Week: “The pressure is not on us; it’s on everyone else, and we’re able to go out there and play our best.”

Golf Channel noted the Trojans are going for an incredible year-to-year turnaround:

Ryan Lavner of GolfChannel.com pointed out that those two young players' presence is critical for the Trojans as they attempt to win a title after such a disappointing performance:

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Redemption is not what is driving USC to success through two rounds here at Concession, but there’s no mistaking the worst-to-first parallels. ...

Sean Crocker and Rico Hoey are interchangeable as USC’s No. 1 man, and both are in fine form this week. Crocker shook off two early bogeys to fire a 68, while Hoey birdied the last to shoot even. Both are in the top-6 individually.

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Elsewhere, Illinois held the lead after one round but finds itself three strokes back after it shot three over par Saturday compared to USC's three under.

Thomas Detry carried the team at one under Saturday, which brought his overall score to five under par on the tournament after a brilliant round Friday. He boasts the second-best score for any individual through the first two days of competition.

Dylan Meyer finished with a critical two-under-par performance for the Fighting Illini to support Detry, which proved even more important because no other Fighting Illini player finished under par outside of those two Saturday. Without Meyer's efforts, Illinois would be staring at a much more daunting hole.

There is also a pair of SEC teams tied for third place in Georgia and LSU at five over par. Both are certainly within striking distance, but the Tigers likely feel better about their position than the Bulldogs considering LSU shot a combined one-over Saturday compared to Georgia's five-over.

As a team, SMU is in a disappointing tie for 20th place, but Bryson Dechambeau sits in first place at seven under on the tournament. He was a brilliant five-under Saturday and literally did all he could, as Golf Channel pointed out:

Saturday was something of a moving day at Concession Golf Club because the top 15 teams will advance to the final round of stroke play after Sunday's rounds. After Sunday, the top eight teams advance to a match-play bracket in a battle for the title.

Concession Golf Club’s official website explained the full format.

USC certainly has to like where it stands after two rounds with the elimination rounds on the way. In theory, the youngsters have plenty of time to let their nerves get to them with so much at stake, but they looked incredibly comfortable on the course Saturday. It's almost as if they don't know any better, which is a perfect attitude to assume with the title on the line.

Hoey and senior Eric Sugimoto were part of the last-place effort in 2014, and even that limited experience should help balance the youthful talent when the pressure ultimately kicks in Sunday. 

That combination of youth, talent and a desire to improve upon last year seems to be a winning formula thus far in Florida. The rest of the field is officially on notice.