Utah State Aggies
From Hoopedia
USU's sports teams are known as the Aggies. Recently, the men's basketball team, under coach Stew Morrill, has become known as a nationally respected program, with several trips to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. USU's men's basketball team has had one of the most successful programs in the country since 2000, winning at least 23 games in each season and appearing in the NCAA tournament numerous times.
The most used sports venue is the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, where basketball events are held. Its reputation as a tomb for visiting men's teams (as of Summer 2005, USU has only lost eight games there since the 1997–98 season), and its loud, rambunctious atmosphere have contributed to difficulties assembling a nonconference schedule.
Men's Basketball
In recent times, the men's basketball team has won invitations to the NCAA tournament in 1998 (under coach Larry Eustachy), 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006 (all under Morrill). Prior to 2006, all of these invitations were a result of winning the Big West Conference tournament. In 2006, the Aggies received an at-large bid to the tournament, after finishing second place in their first season in the Western Athletic Conference and losing in overtime of the WAC tournament championship game to Nevada-Reno. Despite a stellar season in 2003–2004 and a national top-25 ranking toward the end of the season, the Aggies did not receive an at-large tournament bid after being upset in the conference tournament. This was the most notorious snub in that year's tournament, and earned the derision of head coach Morrill, as the Aggies held a 25-3 record and were nationally ranked in the top-25. A highlight was a first-round victory against fifth-seeded Ohio State University in 2001.
Women's Basketball
Women's basketball returned in 2003 after a fifteen-year absence. At the time, USU was the only Division I program that did not have women's basketball besides the mostly male Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel. The women's team has not yet produced a winning season.
