This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In an NCAA Tournament bracket matching teams of the past and present, coach Larry Krystkowiak's Utah Utes would be comfortably favored over Jim Boylen's club that took a similar No. 5 seed into the competition six years ago.
Such hypothetical comparisons are all anybody can use to judge Utah's prospects in the 2015 event, including Thursday's pairing vs. Stephen F. Austin in Portland, Ore. And that's what makes the Utes' return to the tournament so mysterious and intriguing. These guys have no baggage associated with their recent performances, as is the case with potential opponent Georgetown, but they have no NCAA credentials either. SFA does, having upset Virginia Commonwealth as a No. 12 seed last March.
How will the Utes perform? Nobody can say, for sure. As much as Wooden Award finalist Delon Wright and his Utah teammates have accomplished this season, the NCAA Tournament is a different stage.
They welcome it, naturally. "I couldn't stress it more: It's just a great opportunity," said junior guard Brandon Taylor. "It feels like a new season."
The Moda Center in Portland will be a fresh scene for the Utah program, following a five-year absence from the tournament. The more you study the bracket, the more you have to like the Utes' chances to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 10 years — which is also the last time they won an NCAA game, with coach Ray Giacoletti and center Andrew Bogut.
The selection committee treated Utah well. In the 1-68 ranking of the field, the Utes are No. 17. Georgetown, the No. 4 seed in the South Region, is No. 16. Utah would have at least a 50-50 shot in that matchup in the round of 32, especially considering Georgetown won't have any kind of regional advantage this week, having been shipped from coast to coast. The hometown Washington Post used "shockingly" in a headline describing how high the Hoyas were seeded.
Georgetown may even have a tough time Thursday with Big Sky Conference tournament champion Eastern Washington, led by Tyler Harvey, the country's top scorer.
So it all shapes up well for the Utes, the only issue being that anyone can only wonder how they'll play in this setting. There's no precedent for a Krystkowiak team, other than the way his Montana clubs performed with an 11-point loss to Washington as a No. 16 seed in 2005 and a win over Nevada as a No. 12 seed in '05.
Undoubtedly, this Utah team is better than the No. 5-seeded club of '09 that lost 84-71 to Arizona in Miami. Those Utes didn't play well, committing 20 turnovers in their return to the tournament after three years away. Utah fell behind early, then faded at the end after rallying. And that was with a roster of four scholarship seniors, including center Luke Nevill and forward Shaun Green, a group that Boylen had described as "battle-hardened."
The current Utes have experience with high-profile games, including two meetings with No. 2 seed Arizona, a neutral-site contest with No. 2 seed Kansas in Kansas City and a semifinal game vs. No. 8 seed Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament. The problem is they lost those games, although they beat No. 7 seed Wichita State at the Huntsman Center in early December.
In '09, Boylen pointed to a Mountain West tournament title as good preparation for his team's NCAA trip. Krystkowiak's spin is he can use what happened in Las Vegas for the sake of teaching and motivation.
He's accusing the Utes of taking plays off recently in transition defense. They can't do that against a Stephen F. Austin team that likes to run and is effective offensively. Overall, the Utes have been solid on both ends on the court, with a kenpom.com efficiency ranking of No. 8. SFA is No. 35, outstanding for a No. 12 seed. Georgetown is No. 22.
Duke, the South's No. 1 seed, is No. 7. But that's getting ahead of the story. The Sweet 16 in Houston is a reasonable destination for the Utes, but they have a lot to prove in Portland.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
Utah vs. Stephen F. Austin
O NCAA Tournament, second round, at Portland, Ore.
Tipoff • Thursday, 5:30 p.m. MDT
TV • truTV
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