NCAA Basketball: North Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
19. Utah State (26-5)
Nobody came back to Utah State this season. New head coach Danny Sprinkle had a monumental task to rebuild this roster and has clearly achieved great success. The Aggies cling to their spot atop the MWC standings, a league that has taken the college basketball world by storm in recent months. Frankly, Sprinkle is clearly the mid-major head coach of the year and possibly a legitimate candidate for national honors.
The Aggies just kept winning this week, starting off with a 90-70 road win at San Jose State back on Wednesday night. Darius Brown II had 21 points off seven 3-pointers while Mason Falslev added 20 points and 6 rebounds. Utah State scored a fifth-straight win to end the regular season with a fantastic performance over New Mexico. The Aggies won 87-85, with a 3-pointer from Brown winning the game in the final moments.
Winning 26 games in the regular season is a great achievement for any program, let alone one that had this kind of offseason turnover. The Aggies were projected for the bottom half of the Mountain West and instead sit in the driver’s seat heading into the league tournament. We’ll just have to see if the Aggies can produce some magic in March.