Utah State almost played in the postseason, but that postseason tournament was almost the NIT.
It's fitting that the Aggies were one of the last teams to see their names flash across CBS as an at-large entry to the NCAA tournament. They were, most likely, the last team that the committee selected for the field of 65.
"It got a little tense in there," USU coach Stew Morrill said. "In that last bracket that's when our name came up. It's nice to end up in Spokane, it's nice to be able to stay out West. I felt like we've earned this opportunity. I felt like we belonged in the tournament."
Utah State will face Texas A&M on Friday afternoon in Spokane. This is the third consecutive season that a team from the state of Utah will face Texas A&M in the first round of the tournament. The Aggies from the Big 12 eliminated BYU the previous two seasons, and they have a bona fide star in shooting guard Donald Sloan, who should be hard for Utah State to match up with.
"I know they have a good team," junior forward Tai Wesley said. "They have good athletes, I know they beat BYU in the last two years of the tournament. I know that we're going to have to play a very good game if we want to compete with them. It should be a good matchup."
The Aggies garnered a bid in large part because of a 17-game winning streak that was snapped on Saturday night with a loss to New Mexico State. However, Utah State won the Western Athletic Conference regular season title by three full games. The Aggies also had good wins over BYU and Wichita State.
That, apparently, was enough for the committee to choose USU over such power conference schools as Virginia Tech, Mississippi State and Illinois. Morrill has openly lobbied for a bid to the tournament whether or not his team won its conference postseason tournament. His argument was all about a body of work that Utah State has put together. Evidently, the committee agreed with his assessment.
"We have a bitter taste in our mouths with what happened against New Mexico State," Aggie point guard Jared Quayle said. "We want to come out and redeem ourselves. We want to play well in the tournament, and hopefully put ourselves in position to be competitive."
