Brad Rock: Rock On

BAD TO WORSE

Utah State coach Stew Morrill says despite disappointment over a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament, it's all good.

"We're excited," he said Sunday, trying to look, well, excited.

He went on to say regular-season and conference-tourney titles prove that no matter what occurs this week against Kansas State, "There's nothing bad that can happen."

Unless, of course, you're a worrywart like Rock On, who still clings to the notion that a 40-point beat-down would indeed be bad.

Worse yet, the WAC could fold and leave USU out of tournament contention forever.

Worst of all, Morrill could accept a job someplace else, where he would get more respect from the selection committee.

For Aggie fans, that really is something bad that could come out of the NCAA Tournament.

ONE POTATO …

Morrill says he posted a picture of mashed potatoes on the wall of the locker room, partway through this season. Each time they won, players would paste a small cutout of a blotch of gravy on the picture.

"If we beat Kansas State, it will totally cover the mashed potatoes," he said.

If they lose?

The whole idea would fall into the category of small potatoes. Or maybe a nice, benign Tater Tot casserole.

INVITATION ONLY

While the Aggies openly wondered if their record would have been good enough for a bid had they lost the WAC title game, other teams didn't have such fears. For instance, in the Big East, where 11 of 16 teams made the field.

This just in: CBS has decided to change the tournament's nickname next year from March Madness to the Big East Invitational. Everyone else, take a number.

THE GOOD LIFE

The Gallup Well-Being Index rates Utah the eighth-best place to live in 2010. People here feel safe, secure and content.

Of course, that was before Jerry Sloan quit, Deron Williams was traded, the Jazz tanked, the Utes fired Jim Boylen, BYU dismissed Brandon Davies and the Aggies got hosed in the NCAA Tournament seeding process.

Otherwise, Utahns are (grrrrr) just as happy (tick-tick-tick!) and content (gnash) as can be.

e-mail: rock@desnews.com

twitter: therockmonster