The blessing and curse of Reno weather

I love inclement weather.

Sure it has its downside, like when nobody shovels the snow on campus. But at the same time, it sure can be a blessing sometimes-especially when it diverts the Utah State men’s basketball team from a potential loss.

This was the case for the Aggies last Saturday. Because of poor weather, their game against the Nevada Wolf Pack in Reno, Nev., was canceled.

It would have been the Aggies’ second Western Athletic Conference game and their first road game in nearly a month. The game’s cancellation is good for a very obvious reason: the Aggies are currently 1-4 away from the Spectrum, and the one win was on a neutral court.

It’s likely the Aggies would have gone to Reno and dropped the game by a narrow margin. Yes, the Wolf Pack no longer has Nick Fazekas, but Marcelus Kemp is no slouch either. Regardless of their perfect home record this season, the Aggies have yet to prove they would do otherwise away from Logan against a decent team.

But now, with the Nevada road game out of the picture until Feb. 11, the Aggies have three straight WAC home games and a much higher likelihood of starting conference play 4-0. An Aggie team has not done that since the 2003-04 season, while playing in the Big West Conference.

No, it won’t be easy with the Reggie Theus-less New Mexico State Aggies (Jan. 12) and the Coby Karl-less Boise State Broncos (Jan. 17) being two of the three opponents. The Broncos were the team to gloriously knock BYU down to where they belong-out of the Top 25 and back to mediocrity. But, seriously, can these teams win in the Spectrum with Tai Wesley and Jaycee Carroll setting the nets on fire? Forget about it.

Well, now that the good has been discussed, let’s talk about the potential negative side of this situation.

Stew Morrill has led his teams to a 61-55 record in road games in the past 10 seasons. This does not count games played at a neutral site. This is a decent mark, though barely above .500. What worries me most about the Nevada cancellation is the next road game the Aggies play is not until Jan. 24 at Louisiana Tech. With the last roadie being Dec. 8, it will be a seven-week period without experiencing a road test.

Is this good or bad?

By winning games at home, the Aggies are surely gaining more confidence and improving. However, following the coming three-game home stand, six of the next eight are away from the Spectrum. That has “make or break” spelled all over it for the Aggies. Aside from Nevada, they include contests at New Mexico State, Fresno State and Hawaii. The Aggies have lost at each of those venues the last two seasons.

“It’s unfortunate, but one of those things that’s out of anybody’s control and you just go forward and realize, in our case, we are going to play three games in a row on the road,” Morrill said. “It’s more of a problem for us than for them, because we have to travel. We’re jamming it in and traveling, they’re at least at home. But that’s life and that’s the way it is.”

And so it appears the cancellation of the Nevada game has great potential to be both a blessing and a curse for the Aggies. One road game against a decent team, I believe, does make a difference, whether the Aggies win or lose. It’s valuable experience the Aggies need.

Sammy Hislop is a junior majoring in public relations. Comments can be sent to him at samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu