LOGAN — Practically everything about the Utah State basketball team this season has been new — most notably a new head coach in Danny Sprinkle and basically an entirely new roster from a year ago.
So, it seems only fitting that the first time ever, the No. 22-ranked Aggies are heading into the Mountain West men’s basketball championship this week in Las Vegas as the No. 1 seed. Thanks to Saturday night’s dramatic, 87-85 victory over New Mexico, Utah State State (26-5 overall, 14-4 in the Mountain West) won the league’s regular-season title by one game over Nevada (26-6, 13-5) and Boise State (22-9, 13-5).
And what’s also new is a level of comfort heading into the postseason tournament that Utah State has arguably never experienced before. While the Aggies have had only one losing season in the past 30 years, they have usually gone into the postseason with the thought that they needed to win the entire tourney, or at least a game or two to help solidify their resume for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.
But after winning one of the strongest conferences in the country — a league that could potentially land a half-dozen teams in the Big Dance — the Aggies know their name will show up on Selection Sunday. It’s just a matter of seeding, and where and whom they’ll be playing.
Put together a solid showing at the Thomas & Mack Center, and Utah State seems all but certain to secure the best seed in school history.
The strongest seed ever currently belongs to the 2018-19 Aggies, who shared the Mountain West regular-season title with Nevada but were a No. 2 seed going into the postseason tournament. Led by current NBA players Sam Merrill and Neemias Queta, those Aggies beat San Diego State in the championship game and were rewarded with a No. 8 seed on Selection Sunday.
Perhaps ironically, that team ended up losing to No. 9 seed Washington, 78-61, in Columbus, Ohio, in what ended up being the only NCAA tournament appearance in seven seasons for UW head coach Mike Hopkins. Washington announced over the weekend that Hopkins would be exiting the Huskies program following the Pac-12 tournament, and Sprinkle is rumored to be one of the top candidates UW is considering as a potential replacement.
But for the moment, Sprinkle, whose father, Bill Sprinkle, played defensive back for the Huskies from 1966-68, is focused on continuing the Aggies’ magical run in Sin City.
First up is the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 8 Wyoming (15-16, 8-10) and No. 9 Fresno State (11-20, 4-14), whom Utah State will face at 1 p.m. MT Thursday. Win that game, and the Aggies will take on the winner of Thursday’s showdown between No. 4 UNLV (19-11, 12-6) and No. 5 San Diego State (22-9, 11-7) in the semifinals.
The Cowboys are the clear favorite to emerge from Wednesday’s contest, especially after absolutely dominating the Bulldogs Saturday night in Fresno. Wyoming held Fresno to just 17 points in the second half on its way to an 86-47 dismantling of the home team.
The Aggies went 4-0 against both teams during the regular season, winning the games in Logan by very comfortable margins in January, but having to grind out tough victories on the road in February. Utah State edged the Cowboys, 84-76, in Laramie, and needed a near miracle to pull off a 77-73 win in Fresno. That game featured a banked-in 3-pointer by USU guard Darius Brown II that sent the contest into overtime, which included another huge trey by Brown down the stretch.
Brown also hit a last-second 3-pointer that helped USU pull off a miraculous victory at UNLV on Jan. 13, and, of course, delivered another game-winning 3-pointer in Saturday’s game mammoth win over New Mexico.
“If he’s not the league MVP, I’m never voting again,” Sprinkle said of Brown during the postgame press conference. “And I’m dead serious because what he’s done with this — and I say it in an endearing way — this group of misfits, it’s just unbelievable how he’s led this group.”
Brown finished with 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds against the Lobos (22-9, 10-8) to improve his MW Player of the Year resume. Teammate Great Osobor, also a strong MVP candidate, totaled 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Sprinkle is a shoo-in to win Mountain West Coach of the Year after taking over a program that returned zero points from 2022-23.
Postseason awards will be released Tuesday, just before the tournament gets underway Wednesday on UNLV’s homecourt. In addition to the Wyoming-Fresno State matchup, No. 7 Colorado State (22-9, 10-8) will battle No. 10 San Jose State (9-22, 2-16) and No. 6 New Mexico will take on No. 11 Air Force (9-21, 2-16).
Thanks to Saturday’s win over the Lobos, the Aggies likely avoided playing the previously ranked Rams on Thursday. Instead, No. 2 Nevada gets the winner of the Colorado State-San Jose State, while the No. 3 Boise State plays whichever team emerges from the New Mexico-Air Force matchup.
Being in the upper bracket could also benefit the Aggies as far as recovery time. A win on Thursday would have them play at 7:30 p.m. MT Friday, rather than at 10 p.m. Tournament games on Thursday and Friday will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network, with the MW championship game being shown on CBS at 4 p.m. MT Saturday.
The Wolf Pack is the lone team the Aggies didn’t at least manage a split with during the regular season. Nevada handed USU it’s only home loss of the season, a 77-63 defeat on Feb. 6.
Due to the Mountain West’s unbalanced schedule of 11 teams playing an 18-game slate, Utah State didn’t play in Reno this season, while UNLV never came to Logan. The Mountain West announced on March 7 that starting with the 2024-25 season, it will move to a 20-game conference schedule.