Column: Views From The Stands; Tough part over for USU

After the Utah State men’s basketball team’s 59-53 win at Nevada, Big Blue ascended to the top of Mount Logan to

once again seek guidance from the great college basketball guru.

Big Blue approached the wizard, bowed to him and said, “Master, now that we have passed our biggest test on the road, what must we do to continue winning in such a good conference?”

The guru motioned with his hand and said, “Come closer, my young prodigy.”

He then whispered very softy saying, “The tough part of USU’s schedule is now over.”

“It’s OVER?” Big Blue shouted.

“Shhhh,” the guru responded. “You cannot speak of this to anyone. If this information becomes public, the team will grow over-confident and blow it.”

“I see, great master. Thank you for your wisdom.”

***

Monday’s win was by far the biggest of the season for USU. The Aggies are now 5-2 in conference play and 13-4 overall. And the best part is there really are not any obvious “tough” games left on the schedule.

Of course Stew Morrill would never admit that. In fact, he’d probably yell at you and make you run a couple ladders just for suggesting that the remaining schedule is easy in any way. After all, we’re in the WAC now. All the teams are good.

But take a peak at the schedule. Only four more road games remain with only one of them coming against a team with a winning record in both conference play and overall – Louisiana Tech.

And the Aggies don’t lose at home.

So, let us speculate for moment. First, look over your shoulder and make sure no one else is reading this. Like the guru said, we can’t talk about this out loud.

But let’s say USU wins its remaining road games. If it can win at Nevada, it can win at LTU. And let’s also assume it wins the rest of its home games. That’s hardly a stretch when you consider Morrill’s ridiculous 107-9 record in the Spectrum.

That would give USU a record of 24-4 at the end of the regular season and the top seed in the conference tournament.

And let’s also say that USU wins that tournament. That would most likely require beating Fresno State or Louisiana Tech in the semifinals and beating Nevada on its home court in the finals. That certainly isn’t a guarantee, but it is a possibility.

That would put the Aggies at 27-4 overall, 17-2 in conference games with an 18-game winning streak. That would most likely give them a four or five seed in the big dance. And the selection committee tries its best to keep the top four-five seeds in each region as close to home as possible.

Well, Salt Lake City will be hosting first- and second-round games this year. Can you imagine the home crowd the Aggies would get if they get to play in SLC? Can you say Sweet 16?

But again, we have to keep this hush-hush. Like the guru said, if everyone knows about this, the fans will expect too much and the team will buckle under the pressure.

Bryan Hinton is a senior majoring in print journalism. Comments can be sent to bhhinton@cc.usu.edu.