LOGAN – For the first time since Craig Smith arrived in Logan, the state of Utah has not experienced the joy of an automatic bid for March Madness and instead went through the National Team on Sunday wondering if they would see his name drawn among the 68 teams.
Up to the final group of the first quadrant.
The 11th-place Aggies are scheduled to open Friday’s tournament against sixth-place Texas Tech at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana (11:45 am MDT TNT). From the ballroom of a Las Vegas hotel, just hours before his team flew to Indianapolis, Justin Bean even admits that a few tears were shed, if not to the selection, when Smith headed to the computer before they jumped to a Zoom media call.
“I shed a few tears,” Bean said. “The coach knows how to make a good speech, so he got a few of us.”
Smith likes to talk about how he doesn’t “watch with bubbles” or pay attention to media projections about the tournament; today he read his first tweet from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
But Bean did. You can’t get enough “bubble content” and “parenthesis”. And the former admits he was worried, based on everything he’s read.
“When I saw Wichita State sneak in, I was a little worried,” Bean said. “But we know it was out of our hands and luckily the committee saw that we were a tournament-caliber team. We deserve to be there and we know we have the tools to run.”
mood ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/dRhPOIyiE4
– Utah State Athletics (@USUAthletics) March 14, 2021
Regardless of whether he watches the bubble, Smith didn’t get much sleep this week as he prepared for consecutive games at the Mountain West Tournament. He admits he slept better on Saturday night than all week. A night owl by tradition, Smith fell asleep shortly after 8:30 p.m. and woke up with a totally calm feeling.
Others hesitated. I had a feeling they would get into it. When third-year Aggie coach who recently signed an extension until 2026 sat in front of reporters, most of whom have covered his team throughout the year, he said clearly, “It’s so good to see “because the state of Utah only set aside one Zoom call Yes the Aggies did the NCAA tournament.
But Smith never hesitated, he insists.
“We finished second in the regular season, we got to the championship game and I knew our metrics were really good,” Smith said. “I knew we had a good non-conference program and I knew we had to overcome a lot.
“We want to play, and that’s been our motto all year. Then obviously when it pops up on the screen and you see Wichita State as 11. But then I thought that helped us as 11, and watch UC Santa Barbara as a 12; he showed that he valued not only BCS schools. This was valued when we saw our 11. “
The state of Utah (20-8) bounced from a 1-3 start to the season to finishing No. 2 in the Mountain West Conference with a 15-4 league record, the second best at No. 19 of the state of San Diego.
The Aggies got a couple of wins over the Aztecs through a two-game home series from Jan. 14-16, but losses to Colorado State, UNLV and Boise State prevented them from securing the regular season title. The state of San Diego (23-4) will open Friday’s No. 6 spot against Syracuse (16-9) in the Midwest region.
After dominant victories over the Rebels and Rams in Las Vegas, Utah’s state bid for the Mountain West tournament title ended in Saturday’s 68-57 loss to San Diego State. . The Aggies were pushed to the brink of the bubble, and with bid steals wins by the State of Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament, Georgetown in the Big East, Georgia Tech in the ACC.
The best way to fight Sunday terrorists‼ ️
🕺🕺🕺#AggiesAllTheWaypic.twitter.com/U4CDsScPP1
– USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 14, 2021
But when Cincinnati failed to get another ticket for the Americans for a Houston defeat, Utah State narrowly survived the bubble to punch its ticket to Madness for the third straight season.
The bubble opened wide enough to let in seed number 2 from Mountain West, and the Aggies hope to take advantage of it.
“We’re all fulfilled,” said Neemias Queta, the star center of Utah State, shortly before leaving a Zoom call to finish packing. “It’s all we worked on all year. When I saw our name, I felt a sense of joy and accomplishment. At the same time, I want to make sure we get in and do what we want to do.
“We want to get in there to win, not just be there. We’re happy, but not satisfied.”