COLUMN: Never Fear, Aggie fans, Utah State will be dancing in March
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Can any sports fan have any doubt? This beats the hell out of Christmas for Joe Q. Sportsnut. If the warm weather isn’t enough to keep you smiling, baseball is starting up and the NHL and NBA are in full swing, fighting it out for playoff position. What else can you ask for?
How about Championship week and the NCAA tournament?
Ahh …
Sorry, about that, I was just soaking up the joy that is top-notch college basketball.
And hoops-nut Utah has plenty to cheer about. Southern Utah University is in for the first time, the University of Utah and Brigham Young University are both in the tournament in several projections and Weber State University is still alive.
Oh yeah, and Utah State.
Although the Aggies are not in any current projections of the NCAA field, a win in the tournament should give them something like a 12 seed – like last season. It looks like USU has to win the Big West Tournament to get into the Big Dance, but that is something I’m very confident of.
Sure I’m biased, but I have my (very scientific) reasons:
No. 1, they’ve been there before. In the 2000 tournament, USU played three solid games to take the title many believed the Aggies didn’t need to get into the NCAA Tournament. This year’s team is virtually the same team.
No. 2, the field is weaker. With the departure of the University of North Texas, New Mexico State University and University of Nevada-Reno, the conference tournament teams are not as strong. In 2000, the 6-10 team barely got under the wire – this year, a 3-13 team cuts it.
No. 3, the Aggies have beaten every team in the field at least once and usually soundly. Only Long Beach State University’s 15-point win in the Pyramid is a concern. USU lost to the University of California at Irvine on the road, but then plastered them in the Spectrum. The loss to Boise State University was in overtime on the road. That’s not a big deal – look what we did to them here.
No. 4, the Aggies are hungrier. I know Irvine has never made it, so they will be motivated. But a good portion of the USU team was there last year – and it was so good, they may crave it even more this year, since they know how good it was. It’s like your first good French kiss; you didn’t know what you were missing until you actually experienced it.
No. 5, these are the Aggies we know and love. This core of players might be the best USU has ever produced. They know what to do.
The rest of tournament should go like this …
March Madness tid-bits
What is up with the “NCAA play-in game?” We now have an NCAA Tournament field of 65 teams. Now there will be a 17th seed in the Midwest Region bracket. That team will play the 16th seed for the right to be blown out by the No. 1 seed (presumably Michigan State University).
Sure, it’s nice to squeeze one more team into the packed tournament, and one of these little schools get a chance to win a game before getting bounced. But now the tournament just looks lopsided.
Anaheim is a nice location for the Big West Tournament, but I miss Reno. Sure, Nevada played on its home floor, but that was only one team. Anaheim gives three schools a virtual home-court. That’s O.K., Aggie fans will still make the trip and out-cheer them.
And congratulations to that gun-slinging team down in Cedar City. Although they play nothing like the Aggies, the Thunderbirds are a fun team to watch. Let’s hope SUU can pull another Weber State-University of North Carolina.
Aaron Morton is the sports editor of the Statesman. Comments about the column or the section are welcome at sports@statesman.usu.edu or slzqr@cc.usu.edu