Column: USU’s NIT bid offers redemption

When the final horn rang out on March 10, solidifying Utah State’s loss to Colorado State in the second round of the Mountain West tournament, a sense of disappointment came over me as I’m sure it did for several Aggie faithful.

For the first time since 2018, the Aggies would not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

After finishing the regular season 17-14, it was clear that the only path to March Madness was to steal a bid by winning the Mountain West tournament.

With seconds remaining in the quarterfinals, Colorado State’s Isiah Stevens drove into the lane where he dropped the ball off to Chandler Jacobs on the low block. Jacobs collected, elevated, and banked the ball off the window and in with 1.8 seconds remaining to take a 53-51 lead. Utah State lost on the last shot of the game.

Again.

The loss marked the fifth game of the season where the Aggies lost on the last shot of the game.

Utah State ended the season 1-2 in games decided by three points and 0-5 in two-point games. After the initial close win, USU went 0-7 in games decided by three points or less to finish the year. According to the Ken Pomeroy rankings, Utah State was the unluckiest team in the country.

In Ken Pomeroy's luck rating, Utah State is now ranked 358th in the nation. There are 358 teams in the nation.

— Jacob Nielson (@Jacobnielson12) March 12, 2022

“I mean, yes, we’ve had some hard losses and some disappointing endings. Certainly, the last game like Colorado State,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “They made a shot to beat us, basically. We’ve had some of those this year, and you’re gonna have some of those times over the course of the season.”

Odom inherited a winning program in Logan, and despite it being just his first year with the program, expectations were high. Utah State started the season 9-4, headlined by a tournament win at the Myrtle Beach Invitational where they toppled the University of Oklahoma in the title game.

So entering conference play the expectation was to win.

Utah State opened conference play with a loss on the road to Air Force. It’d be the last game starting guard Brock Miller would play for nearly two months, due to a prolonged back injury.

After a second-half comeback and overtime win at New Mexico, USU dropped four in a row. Suddenly the Aggies were 10-9. All the optimism and expectations were drained.

Utah State found a way to put together a five-game winning streak before losing another four in a row. Playing in a conference that sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament took its toll on the Aggies.

USU finished their home schedule with a senior night loss to Colorado State. Hope still remained in the Mountain West tournament, however. But Colorado State put an end to that too.

The end of the season left many Aggie fans looking back and thinking ‘what could’ve been?’ The close games, the missed free throws, the last-second shots. If just a few of those went the other way what would’ve been made of this season?

USU ended as the third-highest ranked 15-loss team in both Ken Pom and NCAA Net rankings. This team was just ‘that close’ on so many occasions. What was left was disappointment.

And then, on Sunday night just after 7 pm on ESPNU, some hope was reignited. Utah State was announced not just as a team in the field for the NIT, but as a four seed that would host a first-round matchup on Tuesday night against Oregon.

After all the adversity and tough losses, their grit and determination was rewarded.

The game marks the first time the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum will host a Power-5 opponent since the 2013-2014 season. Utah State hasn’t been in the NIT since 2008, hasn’t hosted the NIT since 2004 and hasn’t won an NIT game since 1960. In fact, the program has lost eight straight games in the National Invitation Tournament.

“Given all of that’s happened to this team, the injuries, the tough losses, COVID; we’ve had a lot of things go on over the course of our year. Guys in and out of the lineup,” Odom said. “There’s never been any give and our team was still well thought of enough to be invited to a postseason tournament.”

The Aggies now have a chance to turn a ‘what could have been’ season into a ‘what it became.’

A win on Tuesday night against the Ducks wouldn’t flip this season’s narrative around entirely. But it would show the Aggies are a good team capable of winning big games, despite the adversity the Aggie men endured throughout the course of this season.

A win on Tuesday night would help an otherwise disappointing season and on a good note, and give Aggie fans something to get excited for.

Brock Miller, and the team leader that he is, would be sent off in style. Senior Justin Bean could potentially end his storied Aggie career with a postseason win in a final game on his home floor.

And a win on Tuesday night would also make this season exactly what it needed to be: a stepping stone. A growing experience for their first-year head coach and young core of guards.

Despite it happening in the “consolation” tournament, Utah State’s matchup against Oregon is one of the biggest games of the season.