Aggies excited for Big Dance despite drawing a low seed

LOGAN — The Utah State Aggies' frustration of yesterday's seeding slight has been replaced by excitement of playing in another NCAA Tournament. The No. 12 seed Aggies will face No. 5-seeded Kansas State Thursday in Tucson, Ariz. Tipoff is set for approximately 8 p.m. MDT.

"Yesterday we were a little disappointed, but today that's worn off," Aggie senior Tyler Newbold said. "Today we are excited to go play. There are a lot of teams that were left out that wish they were in our position. We can't be mad or upset. We just got to have a chip on our shoulder and show that we belong in this tournament and that we are a good team."

The figurative chip on the shoulder is going to be one of the keys for Utah State if it wants to make a run in the tournament.

"This just gives us fuel to the fire, I think," Tai Wesley said about the seeding. "We are going to prove them wrong and show them they messed up with this seed."

"We were a little upset yesterday, but we're in," Pooh Williams said, echoing his teammates' thoughts. "We got to be excited about that. We think this is a good matchup for us. Kansas State is a good team. We are just excited about that. We will have a chip on our shoulder and go out and use that for motivation."

Also working in the Aggies' favor is a familiarity with the NCAA Tournament.

This will be the Aggies' third consecutive trip to the Big Dance. Four of the five starters have played in at least one NCAA Tournament, with point guard Brockeith Pane being the lone exception.

The Aggies also have recent experience this year in playing a power conference team in Georgetown early in the season — something they did not have before playing Texas A&M in last year's tournament. They believe that the experience at Georgetown combined with the experience gained in previous NCAA tournaments will boost their confidence.

"We did the Georgetown thing because we had a veteran team," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said about taking a game at a power conference school without a return visit. "It was a great experience for us. No regrets there."

Unfortunately the Aggies are stuck in a precarious position. Power conference teams will not schedule them in the regular season because their national profile is not high enough that the team will risk the loss.