USU men’s and women’s basketball: Must watch games of 2019-20

The air is getting colder and the leaves are changing colors, which means USU basketball is just around the corner. The men’s and women’s teams have written drastically different stories, the former winning a conference championship while heading into the new season ranked top-25 nationally, and the latter producing and uninspiring finish as the team drifted apart through the offseason.

Despite these varied results and upcoming expectations, each team still has some incredibly exciting matchups to look forward to. 

Here are just a few of those games for each squad:

Men’s basketball:

USU Men’s Basketball plays against New Mexico with USU taking the win 71-55. At the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum at Utah State University in Logan,UT. The USU Men’s Baketball team has only two more home games left before the season ends. Febuary 20, 2019. Logan, UT.

Nov. 22 versus LSU

The men’s team has the opportunity to travel down to Montego Bay, Jamaica to take on the SEC title-defending LSU Tigers. Last year, the Tigers earned a #3 seed to the NCAA tournament, eventually falling to Michigan State in the Sweet 16. This year’s team will prove to be quite the foe, as some national preseason rankings have LSU as high as 19th.

Dec. 21 at Florida

Virginia Tech star transfer Kerry Blackshear joins a Gators team that finished 20-16 in a stacked SEC led by the aforementioned Tigers. However, Florida State is the new favorite, projected to be top-five according to ESPN. Utah State will be playing in Florida for the first time ever and will mark just the second time the two teams have met. This will likely be the toughest game of the year for USU, a mid-season checkup of just exactly how good the Aggies are.

Jan. 11, 2020 versus Nevada

This is going to be the must-see game of the year. After Utah State pulled off the upset in an 81-76 victory last season, emotions took over Nevada as the students rushed the floor to celebrate. This led some of the players in attempting to rush Utah State’s locker room after the game. According to Nevada’s coaching staff, it was Utah State’s staff that provoked one of the Wolf Pack players to lose his composure. The Mountain West released a statement concluding it was not the court-storm that caused the hallway ruckus after all. Whichever team pulls off the victory in what will be an emotional rematch, let’s hope it is handled with a little more grace and class.

Women’s basketball:

Utah State’s Women’s basketball played their last home game Monday night March 4, 2019 and defeated Colorado State 70-59.

Nov. 13 at Oregon

In just the fourth game of the season, the women’s team must face the championship-favorite Oregon Ducks in Oregon. The Ducks have made it to at least the Elite Eight for the past three years and made it to the Final Four just this past season. USU will have their work cut out for them, seeing as they have had eight players leave the program. To top it all off, Oregon stomped USU last season by 30 points.

Dec. 14 at Oregon State

The Oregon slugfest continues as the Aggies once again make the trek up north, this time to take on the Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers’ success is not too far from that of their neighbors, the Oregon Ducks. Finishing last year in the Sweet Sixteen, the Aggies will play this game halfway through the season, giving them a good measurement to see how they perform going up against one of the best teams in the country.

Feb. 24 versus New Mexico

The season ends with the New Mexico Lobos coming to Logan. The Lobos might not be championship contenders like the other teams USU has to face, but they are still an extremely good team, having earned second place in the Mountain West Conference last year. No matter how the season plays out, this final game will be an exciting one.

Be sure to cheer on both teams as they embark on the new season and read The Utah Statesman to stay up-to-date with everything Aggie basketball.