LOGAN – For the first time in its history, the Associated Press released a Top 25 poll following the NCAA Tournament. Utah State, which has been ranked all but two weeks since Jan. 8, were slotted at No. 22 in the nation by the voters, a slight drop from the No. 20 rank from the previous poll released on March 18.
The USA Today Coaches Poll also released a final edition of its poll with Utah State ranked No. 20.
The Aggies were not the only Mountain West team to be featured in either Top 25 polls. San Diego State was also ranked and jumped in both polls thanks to its run to both the conference tournament title game and also the Sweet 16. The Aztecs jumped seven spots in each of the AP and Coaches Poll, ranking 17th in the former and 18th in the latter.
While no other Mountain West teams were in the Top 25 itself, multiple teams received votes in either poll. Nevada received one vote in both the AP and Coaches Poll with Boise State receiving a vote in the Coaches Poll, but not the AP. New Mexico saw the near reverse, earning a handful of votes from the AP but nothing in the Coaches.
Utah State finishing a season ranked has been a fairly rare achievement in program history. It’s happened once every half-dozen years on average in the 21st century. The 2003-04 team (25th in the final poll), along with the 2010-11 (19th) and 2018-19 (25th) squads were all ranked in the final AP Poll, though none of those teams’ performance in conference tournaments or the NCAA Tournament were taken into account in that ranking (though the ’03-04 team is infamous for being one of the few teams ranked by the AP to not make the tournament).
Prior to 2004, there were only two Aggie teams to finish the year ranked by the Associated Press. Those were the 1969-70 team, which broke into the poll in the final three weeks and finished 16th, and the 1959-60 squad. That year the Aggies were ranked all but two weeks and achieved the highest rank of any team in program history, (No. 7 for two straight weeks in early February) and ended the year ranked eighth.
