Provo Preview

The Aggie men travel to that school down south tonight. You know the one we beat in basketball last year, the one we beat in football this year, the one that still doesn't think we are a rival. A win tonight will solidify the fact that we are indeed a rival. In what could be the last game in the series for some time the Utah State Aggies (1-0) take on the #23 Brigham Young Cougars (1-0).

It's a huge early season match up, especially for the Aggies as they only play one more quality opponent out of. A win will go a long way come tournament time in March. Here is what happened up in Logan last year when the two teams met up. Hopefully there will be more of that tonight and my road spectating record will improve to 2-3. It will be a tough game for the Aggies, who are already missing starting forward Nate Bendall, as defensive specialist Pooh Williams may be unable to go after straining his groin in the opener vs. Weber State. He is listed as a game time decision but I expect him to play in a game as big as this.

Some quick facts about the game via the USU Media Guide:

• Utah State and Brigham Young will be playing for the 227th time this week in what is the oldest rivalry in school history. USU's first game against BYU was during the 1905-06 season. The Aggies trail in the all-time series 135-91. The first game played in the series was on Feb. 23, 1906 with BYU winning 21-14. The last time the two teams played was on Dec. 2, 2009 in Logan with USU winning, 71-61. The last time the two teams played in Provo was Dec. 16, 2006 with BYU winning, 75-62, and the last time Utah State won at BYU was on Dec. 18, 2004, 84-62. Overall, USU has won six of the last nine games played in the series.
• Utah State has won 16 straight regular season games dating back to the 2009-10 season with its last regular season loss coming at Louisiana Tech, 82-60, on Jan. 4, 2010.
• Utah State has won 24 of its last 30 games versus in-state opponents and is 31-10 (.756) against the state of Utah during the last 11 years. During that time period, USU is 6-4 versus Brigham Young, 6-4 versus Utah, 11-2 versus Weber State, 5-0 against Utah Valley and 3-0 against Southern Utah. Overall, USU is 32-15 (.681) versus teams from the state of Utah under Morrill.
• Utah State is 11-56 (.164) all-time against ranked opponents, which includes a 5-13 (.278) record under Morrill. The last time USU played a ranked opponent was in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament when it lost to No. 23 Texas A&M, 69-53. The last time USU defeated a ranked team was on March 9, 2007 when it beat then No. 9 Nevada, 79-77, in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament.
• Utah State is starting the 2010-11 season with four-straight in-state games as it defeated Weber State (77-65) at home, plays at Brigham Young (11/17) and Southern Utah (11/20) and hosts Utah (11/24). Those four in-state games to start the year are the most for USU since the 1991-92 team began its season by playing five-straight in-state opponents.
• Utah State's four returning starters have a combined 353 games played while at USU including 288 starts.
• Only one player on the Aggie roster has ever played a game at BYU, Morgan Grimm a U of U transfer.