Scott Delaney
60-Dime UTAH STATE AGGIES
Coach Stew Morrill is way too smart to count on the Selection Committee. And he certainly isn’t going to accept any close calls during the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. He knows better. Thus, Boise State gets the first beatdown from the No. 1 seed in this year’s event, which begins today in Reno, Nev.
The Aggies defeated the Broncos both times during the regular season, winning at home, 81-59, and on the road, 72-67. And no reason to be alarmed about that five-point win, it wasn’t as close as the difference suggested. Though they won three of their last four, the Broncos are a horrible team, as the season-ending wins came against slumping Louisiana Tech and cellar-dweller Hawaii.
On the other hand, we may be talking about one of the two best teams on the West coast, in Utah State, as I believe it could have beaten anyone in Pac-10 and just about all the Mountain West teams. The Aggies and Mountain West No. 1 seed New Mexico could easily duke it out as the best team on the left coast.
Utah State has won 15 straight games while going an incredible 12-3 ATS run, while winning by less than 10 points only twice during the streak. Ask me, that’s domination. Quite frankly, I’m shocked the Aggies aren’t ranked, and if I find it an insult, what kind of mindset do you think they’re going to have heading into the postseason?
Utah State is No. 3 in the country in three-point shooting, is No. 4 in free throw shooting, and is No. 9 in field goal shooting. That’s on offense. At the other end of the court, the Aggies are ranked 10th in the nation in points allowed. And the fact there are critics out there saying the Aggies need to win at least one or two games in the WAC tournament to earn an at-large bid into the Big Dance – and haven’t already – tells me they’re going to come out firing in this one.
While the Broncos are on an ATS slide of 1-4 on neutral courts, the Aggies are on ATS runs of 4-1 on neutral courts, 10-3 as the installed chalk and 10-3 against conference foes.
I’m laying the chalk with Utah State in this one.
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