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Logan • Two years ago, Utah State was comfortable on Selection Sunday. The players gathered with coaches and loved ones, kicked their feet up and watched as they were sent to Boise to play Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Last year was completely different. The mood was somber. The tension was thick. Of course, USU was eventually selected to the Big Dance with an at-large bid, but not before the Aggies were made to sweat it out.
"We were all pretty down," Tyler Newbold said. "We were like the last team to pop up on the screen. We all thought we were going to get left out of the tournament."
The difference? Utah State won the Western Athletic Conference tournament in 2009. The Aggies, last season, lost to New Mexico State in the championship game.
All of which brings us to the league tournament this week.
"We don't want to leave anything in the hands of the NCAA selection committee," Tai Wesley said.
That means winning the tournament, which for the Aggies starts on Friday in the semifinal round, and the automatic bid that goes with it.
If they don't, a repeat of last year will surely occur, and this time there may be no happy ending. It sounds crazy because Utah State is 28-3, nationally ranked and sports an RPI of 17. No team with that high of an RPI has ever been snubbed by the selection committee.
But there would be a precedent for keeping the Aggies out. No team with fewer than three wins over top-100 RPI competition has ever been selected as an at-large entry. Utah State has two, one over Saint Mary's and the other over Long Beach State. And only one nationally ranked team in history has been snubbed.
That team? Utah State, in 2004.
It all means that USU could have one of the most unique at-large résumés in the history of the selection process. On one hand, the Aggies have computer numbers that suggest they should have nothing to worry about. On the other, the weak strength of schedule and the lack of quality wins suggest the Aggies need to leave nothing to chance.
"All I know is that we have to keep winning," Utah State head coach Stew Morrill said. "They said we had to beat Saint Mary's. After we beat Saint Mary's they said we had to beat Idaho. Then they said we had to sweep our road trip. So we just have to keep winning. You just never know."
So why is Utah State in this position?
Part of it appears to be bad luck. Morrill, having long been criticized for playing laughably weak nonconference schedules, took a chance and played at Georgetown. He also played at Brigham Young University. Of course, those teams turned out to be two of the best programs in the country this season.
However, a win over Utah did nothing for the Aggies, and a win over Weber State didn't have as much mileage as anticipated because the Wildcats lost Damian Lillard to injury and didn't contend for the Big Sky Conference title.
To make matters worse, the WAC this season has been historically bad. Last season, the strength of the league may have actually gotten Utah State that at-large invite. This time around, the mediocrity of the league has been a burden for USU.
Even the much-publicized victory over Saint Mary's in the BracketBusters matchup is doing the Aggies no favors. The Gaels have hit a tailspin, suffering mystifying defeats down the stretch and appear to be in danger of being left out of the tournament after losing to Gonzaga on Monday night in the West Coast Conference title game.
"We feel like we have to play with some urgency," Wesley said. "We've had a great year up to this point, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't play well this week."
There is good news: If the Aggies do win the tournament, they could possibly receive a single-digit seed, after a solid decade of receiving the low seeds that almost guarantee a power team and a first-round exit.
"That makes us excited," Newbold said. "We know that we have a lot to play for and we know we have a lot to accomplish. We have to control what we can. And that's on the court."
tjones@sltrib.comTwitter: @tonyaggieville Utah State this season
Scott Barnes, Utah State athletic director, is serving on the selection committee for the first time. When the Aggies are discussed, he will leave the room. The Aggies are 28-3 this season. They finished 15-1 in the league, six games better than second-place Boise State, and have spent most of the season in the national rankings.
Best win • At St. Mary's in the BracketBusters tournament
Worst loss • At Idaho, which gave critics ammunition
Biggest miss • At BYU, losing a game down the stretch they could've won
The anchor • USU's Gossner tournament, where the Aggies played three teams and won three games that dragged down their strength of schedule
The unexpected • The WAC was so bad in the nonconference portion of the schedule that it has hurt USU's schedule strength