State of the state of Utah college basketball: Where each team stands as January winds down
Heading into the final week of January, there are three Division I teams from the state of Utah that appear in line to make the NCAA men’s basketball tournament this season.
For BYU, Utah and Utah State, it will be important to continue their strong play through the remainder of the conference portion of the season.
If they can do that, it’s likely all three will find themselves playing in the NCAAs this spring.
A fourth Utah school, Weber State, has also been flirting with that designation.
There haven’t been three Utah schools make the NCAAs in the same year in 15 years — it hasn’t happened since 2009.
Could that streak come to an end?
Here’s a look at each team and how they are trending at this point — about a third of the way (or more) through conference play for each team:
Utah State Aggies
Record: 17-2, 5-1 Mountain West.
NET ranking: No. 28.
Records by NET quadrant designation (as of Jan. 22)
Quad 1: 1-2.
Quad 2: 5-0.
Quad 3: 2-0.
Quad 4: 7-0.
Best wins: vs. Colorado State (No. 27 in NET); at UNLV (No. 84); vs. Akron, neutral (No. 85); vs. UC Irvine (No. 74); at Santa Clara (No. 113); vs. San Francisco, neutral (No. 57).
Worst losses: at New Mexico (No. 24); at Bradley (No. 63).
What they’ve done lately: The Aggies, whose only two losses have come in Quad 1 opportunities, sit atop a competitive Mountain West Conference that is poised to send several teams to the NCAA Tournament.
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Utah State is off to a strong conference start, beating the ranked Colorado State Rams back on Jan. 6 to vault the Aggies into The Associated Press Top 25, then followed that with a miracle rally at UNLV.
While Utah State’s 16-game win streak ended at New Mexico last week, the Aggies responded with a solid home win over Fresno State.
Aggies in the Mountain West standings: Utah State is currently first in the Mountain West Conference standings.
BYU Cougars
Record: 14-4, 2-3 Big 12.
NET ranking: No. 5.
Records by NET quadrant designation (as of Jan. 22)
Quad 1: 3-3.
Quad 2: 1-1.
Quad 3: 1-0.
Quad 4: 9-0.
Best wins: at UCF (No. 67 in NET); vs. Iowa State (No. 10); vs. San Diego State (No. 20); vs. NC State, neutral (No. 79).
Worst losses: vs. Cincinnati (No. 36); at Texas Tech (No. 35).
What they’ve done lately: BYU is getting a strong dose of how tough it is to compete for a full 40 minutes in a power conference during their first few weeks in the Big 12.
The Cougars have led in the second half of each of their five league games so far, but have squandered those leads — including a 16-point halftime lead last Saturday at Texas Tech — in their three losses.
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Still, nearly every Big 12 win will be a strong addition to their NCAA résumé, and the Cougars’ win over Iowa State gives them a top-10 NET victory.
Cougars in the Big 12 standings: BYU is currently tied for eighth in the Big 12 Conference standings.
Utah Utes
Record: 14-5, 5-3 Pac-12.
NET ranking: No. 25.
Records by NET quadrant designation (as of Jan. 22)
Quad 1: 3-3.
Quad 2: 2-2.
Quad 3: 4-0.
Quad 4: 5-0.
Best wins: vs. Oregon (No. 53 in NET); vs. Washington State (No. 52); vs. BYU (No. 5); vs. Wake Forest, neutral (No. 42); at Saint Mary’s (No. 22).
Worst losses: at Arizona State (No. 109); at Stanford (No. 108).
What they’ve done lately: Even with two starters ailing, Utah is riding high after winning two home games, including beating Pac-12 nemesis Oregon, to move within a half-game of the Pac-12 lead in the conference standings.
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The Runnin’ Utes are still trying to figure out the solution for road play in league action — so far, Utah is 0-3 on the road since Pac-12 play started at the end of December.
If the Utes can figure that out, they have just as good a chance as anyone outside Arizona to compete for a top seed in the league tournament.
Utes in the Pac-12 standings: Utah is currently tied for fourth in the Pac-12 Conference standings.
Weber State Wildcats
Record: 12-7, 3-3 Big Sky.
NET ranking: No. 114.
Records by NET quadrant designation (as of Jan. 22)
Quad 1: 1-1.
Quad 2: 1-0.
Quad 3: 4-3.
Quad 4: 3-3.
Best wins: at Saint Mary’s (No. 22 in NET); vs. Yale, neutral (No. 96); vs. Montana (No. 116).
Worst losses: at Sacramento State (No. 300); at Portland State (No. 254).
What they’ve done lately: The Wildcats had some solid résumé-building victories in the nonconference portion of their schedule — the win over Saint Mary’s looks even more impressive as the Gaels continue to surge — but have recently suffered some head-scratching losses in league play.
The back-to-back road losses at Sacramento State and Portland State started a three-game slide before Weber State, which was slated as the Big Sky automatic qualifier in ESPN’s bracketology a couple weeks ago, rebounded to blow out Idaho in its most recent game.
Wildcats in the Big Sky standings: Weber State is currently fifth in the Big Sky Conference standings.
Utah Valley Wolverines
Record: 9-10, 4-4 WAC.
NET ranking: No. 197.
Records by NET quadrant designation (as of Jan. 22)
Quad 1: 0-3.
Quad 2: 0-2.
Quad 3: 3-3.
Quad 4: 4-2.
Best wins: vs. Seattle (No. 128 in NET); at Sam Houston (No. 209); vs. Weber State (No. 114).
Worst losses: at UT Rio Grande Valley (No. 300); at Utah Tech (No. 260).
What they’ve done lately: The Wolverines, under first-year coach Todd Phillips, were on a three-game slide until last Saturday, when they avenged a loss at Utah Tech by beating the Trailblazers in Orem.
All three of UVU’s losses prior to that came on the road, with the worst — at least from a résumé standpoint — coming at UT Rio Grande Valley.
Wolverines in the WAC standings: UVU is currently tied for fifth in the WAC standings, along with UT Arlington and Seattle.
Utah Tech Trailblazers
Record: 7-11, 3-4 WAC.
NET ranking: No. 260.
Records by NET quadrant designation (as of Jan. 22)
Quad 1: 0-2.
Quad 2: 0-4.
Quad 3: 3-2.
Quad 4: 3-3.
Best wins: vs. Stephen F. Austin (No. 134 in NET); at Cal Baptist (No. 170); at Jacksonville State (No. 179).
Worst losses: at Idaho (No. 314); at North Dakota (No. 278); at Southern Utah (No. 272).
What they’ve done lately: The Trailblazers, who were once 5-3, have won just once in the new calendar year and are on a two-game losing skid, with losses against instate foes Southern Utah and Utah Valley.
The surprising thing is, those losses followed arguably Utah Tech’s best win of the season, beating Stephen F. Austin in St. George. The Lumberjacks are tied for second in the WAC standings.
Trailblazers in the WAC standings: Utah Tech is currently eighth in the WAC standings.
Southern Utah Thunderbirds
Record: 6-12, 1-6 WAC.
NET ranking: No. 272.
Records by NET quadrant designation (as of Jan. 22)
Quad 1: 0-2.
Quad 2: 0-3.
Quad 3: 0-3.
Quad 4: 4-4.
Best wins: vs. Utah Tech (No. 260 in NET); vs. Texas State (No. 264 in NET).
Worst losses: at CSU Bakersfield (No. 283); at Northern Arizona (No. 316).
What they’ve done lately: One year after SUU reached the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational, the T-Birds are going through growing pains under first-year coach Rob Jeter.
Southern Utah has lost four of its past five games, all in WAC play, while beating Utah Tech last Thursday at home for its first win over a Division I team since three days before Christmas.
Thunderbirds in the WAC standings: Southern Utah is currently 11th, or last, in the WAC standings.
