COLUMN: It’s crunch time for the Aggies
I feel like it is an injustice to the Aggies to dub last Wednesday’s loss at Idaho a wake-up call. It seems to imply that this team was dreaming in the first place to have been at a 22-2 record, which is simply incorrect. USU is still justified in their top 25 ranking, and are already holding on to a share of this year’s Western Athletic Conference title.
Yes, there is still the argument that Utah State has not beaten anybody of merit, but that is due almost entirely in part to USU not having a chance to play many teams of merit. The losses at BYU and Georgetown are all anybody could point to, but there’s not exactly an overwhelming expectation for top 15 teams to lose games at home, even if the competition is only ranked No. 24, which is where the Aggies currently stand after last week’s loss.
The reality of how things are this season is that Utah State has played a handful of bad games throughout the course of this season and still managed to pull out victories despite a poor performance. This is a point I’ve been hammering all year, and for the first time this season, a bad game against a team that the Aggies should have beaten finally came back to bite them.
It’s one of those injustices that works both ways over the course of a season. USU played a terrible game on the road at Boise State last month and still won by double-digits, but earlier in the year they played a great game on the road against BYU and lost.
In other words, that’s why they play the games.
Keep in mind that USU lost by a mere six points at BYU, in the second game of the season, in a game that the Aggies played without starter Nate Bendall. No. 6 ranked San Diego State was only able to come within 13 points of That Team Down South when they visited there several weeks ago.
This is the same BYU team, by the way, that narrowly avoided their own version of last Wednesday’s loss at Idaho back in December when they escaped with just a six-point win at Weber State, while the Wildcats were playing without superstar and potential first-round NBA draft pick Damian Lillard. Add Lillard into that mix, and BYU would have a loss to Weber State hanging over their heads rather than dodging that bullet that whizzed by their heads in Ogden.
But enough about BYU. They were just one example of another team with an outrageous record right now who luckily managed to avoid a similar loss to the one USU suffered Wednesday.
What this week comes down to is USU’s third, and final, chance at a quality RPI win for this season with Saturday’s game at Saint Mary’s. At this point, as far as NCAA Tournament resumes are concerned, a win against Saint Mary’s helps USU a lot more than a loss at Idaho hurts. The selection committee will probably be friendly to the Aggies again this year if USU were to stumble in the WAC Tournament again, seeing as how USU’s RPI is still well within the range of a team worthy of an at-large tournament bid selection, but if USU adds a top 50 RPI win to that resume, then the ticket is practically punched.
Much of the same can be said for Saint Mary’s and their need for a quality win. Lucky for them, they have this game at home. Unlucky for them is that they are without big man Omar Samhan, who essentially dominated the action down low against USU each of the past two years. Subtract Samhan from the mix, and the game seems to be a wild card.
If this year’s Aggies are the type of team that plays up or down relative to its competition, as plenty of evidence suggests, then the Gaels should be getting USU’s best this Saturday.
This game is the premier mid-major match-up of this season. No. 24 at No. 23, with a chance to essentially punch the ticket to the NCAA Tournament for whichever team comes out on top. Basically, tournament time starts now.
Matt Sonnenberg is a senior majoring in print journalism. Matt is an avid fan of Aggie athletics and can be found on the front row of every home football and basketball game. He can also be reached at matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu.