Utah State basketball: NIT-bound Aggies can sympathize with Redbirds' letdown

Just four seasons ago, Utah State was in the same situation the Illinois State Redbirds find themselves in now.

The Aggies, who were nationally ranked at the time, were 25-3 but lost prematurely in the Big West Conference Tournament.

Despite their semifinal-round loss to Cal State Northridge, the Aggies felt they had done enough to merit an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.

That call never came, so the Aggies hosted Hawaii in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament — and lost.

Illinois State, which finished the regular season in second in the Missouri Valley Conference this year, lost to Drake by 30 points in the conference tourney finals.

Still, the Redbirds and many national prognosticators felt they had done enough to wrestle one of the 34 at-large bids away from the power conferences.

Like Utah State, that call never came for Illinois State.

"They were on the bubble and thinking they were in the NCAA Tournament or at least thinking they had an awfully good chance of getting in," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said.

The Aggies are hoping the Redbirds, who are 15-1 at home this year, experience the same kind of letdown USU did and the Aggies can pull out an upset victory over Illinois State tonight at 8 in Normal, Ill.

The game can be seen live on ESPNU.

"Coach Morrill said he has never coached a Utah State team that has won an NIT game, basically because teams haven't been ready and haven't made it really important," said Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll, the reigning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year. "This team got that message. It's going to be important."

After all, the Aggies earned it by winning their last three conference games against Fresno State, Boise State and Idaho to capture a share of the WAC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed to the WAC Tournament, and with that came an automatic bid to the NIT if they didn't make it to the NCAA Tournament.

"When you've had a little time to reflect, you realize how many good basketball teams there are out there and you also realize how good it is to be playing in postseason," Morrill said. "I look back and feel very proud of our team that we went out on the road and secured this automatic NIT bid."

Despite the perceived snub, Southern Illinois coach Tim Jankovich sees the NIT as an opportunity.