This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The answer to that question is no.
Right now, the conference, which Utah State starts on Wednesday against Hawaii, presents the perfect good news/bad news scenario for the Aggies.
The good news is that Utah State is far and away the best team in the league. Realistically, the Aggies are good enough to run through the league unbeaten. Even if they don't, it's tough to imagine anyone other than Nevada or New Mexico State with the possible exception of Louisiana Tech taking a game from them.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that USU will almost certainly have to win the league with one or at the most two losses in order to keep up hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Anything more than that and the Aggies will have to win the conference tournament in March.
That's what happens when the rest of the league stinks it up in the non-conference. Yes, Utah State lost at BYU and at Georgetown. But the Aggies beat everyone else.
The remainder of the league did absolutely nothing, and the conference RPI has suffered for it. It won't get better, either, with the rest of the teams playing each other.
As is the case year by year, Utah State has one out: The Bracketbuster game, which will feature the Aggies as a road game. It's tough to imagine Utah State playing anywhere other than St. Mary's or possibly Old Dominion, which would be a great matchup.
But the task at hand for the Aggies? Be every bit as dominant in the league as they're capable. They'll need to be if they want to be relevant come March.
Tony Jones