Over the last two weeks, Utah State has failed nearly every test that would have bolstered its chances at securing the Mountain West championship. Losses at Nevada, at San Diego State, and most recently at UNLV, have all made the Aggies take a step back in a tightly contested race.
And yet, despite all of those missteps, Utah State is now the champions of Mountain West men’s basketball (though only a share of the title is guarenteed). It’s because the Aggies weren’t the only team stepping on rakes at every turn. Their two biggest rivals in the league title race have been San Diego State and New Mexico. But while USU is 1-3 in its last four games, the Aztecs are 1-4 in their last five games and the Lobos are 1-2 in their last three. Had any of these three teams posted a winning record in the last couple weeks, we’d already have an outright champion.
The Aggies clinced their share of the regular season Mountain West title on Wednesday, after Colorado State defeated New Mexico 82-74 in The Pit. Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun sent Rams head coach Ali Farokhmanesh a thank you for that assist.
“I did send Ali an edible arrangement,” Calhoun said. “He and I become very close and his team’s playing really well. So, we appreciated his efforts.”
Appreciate the THANK YOU gift from @USUBasketball 😂 Red Velvet was delicious… pic.twitter.com/iVbNL7e0m5
— Ali Farokhmanesh (@farokhmanesh5) March 6, 2026
Becoming champions while sitting on their couch may have felt a bit odd, but it’s something the Aggies earned.
“It just really, you know, puts things in perspective. You can’t overreact to a couple games,” Calhoun said. “We’re trying to capture our momentum back, but you also can’t forget your body of work throughout a whole season. Every game matters. So, really, really proud.”
But, as things stand right now, an outright champion is yet to be decided. If Utah State wins, it will earn the title outright. Should New Mexico prove victorious, it would share the conference crown with the Aggies. And while kindergarteners learn that “sharing is caring,” the USU players aren’t in the giving mood.
“The first text we sent to each other was ‘We don’t like sharing.’ So we’re going to go out Saturday and do what we can,” USU senior forward Zach Keller said.
Whether one trophy or two will be handed on for the regular season will have to come down to 40 minutes played in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
How to watch
- Tip-off: March 7, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. (Mountain Time)
- Location: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (Logan, UT)
- TV Broadcast: Mountain West Network
- Radio Broadcast: KVNU (102.1 FM, 610 AM) / kvnutalk.com / KVNU mobile app
KVNU Aggie GameDay pregame show with Stockton Jewkes and J.D. Walker: 1:00 p.m.
KVNU Aggie Call: Immediately after Coach Jerrod Calhoun’s post-game comments
- Text (435) 554-1175 or call (435) 753-5868 during the pregame or postgame show to give your thoughts and reactions for the game.
Utah State vs New Mexico Team Stat Ranks Preview (March 7)
Stats and efficiency ratings via KenPom.com, all rankings are out of 365 teams.
| Stat | Utah State | New Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| NET Rank | 28th | 47th |
| Pace Rank | 88th | 40th |
| Offensive Efficiency | 122.1 (31st) | 116.2 (76th) |
| Defensive Efficiency | 102.3 (51st) | 100.5 (37th) |
| 3-Point % | 35.4 (91st) | 35.8 (80th) |
| 3-Point Attempt Rate | 41.1 (147th) | 42.2 (132nd) |
| Offensive Rebounding % | 33.9 (70th) | 29.1 (233rd) |
| Defensive Rebounding % | 67.7 (278th) | 72.7 (70th) |
| Turnover % | 15.5 (101st) | 15.4 (85th) |
| Opponent Turnover % | 20.6 (18th) | 19.3 (41st) |
The fact Utah State is 1-3 in its last four games is definately a concern. It evokes fear of a repeat of last season where the Aggies lost four of its last six games, including two blowout losses in the regular season, an 11-point loss in the conference tournament and 25-point defeat in the NCAA Tournament first round.
If there’s an optimistic view to be taken, it’s that the Aggies’ slump correlates with playing tough games on the road. All three of those recent losses were on the road with the singular win being the lone home game of that stretch. Utah State has actually only lost at home once this year, that being to a UNLV team that clearly seems to have USU’s number since the Rebels swept the season series by a combined 37 points. It’s been both a good and bad thing that Utah State has been much more competant at home than on the road. Good because winning is always a positive. Bad because it’s not exactly fun for fans to see USU win a competitive game at home and then be blown out on the road. Or, the other common dichotomy, blow out a team at home and then watch USU be in a nail-biter with a below-.500 on the road.
I went and looked at every conference series Utah State has played in thus far and calculated the change from their home games against teams to how the Aggies did in the away game. It’s a drastic and stunning difference.Only one time did Utah State have a positive net scoring… pic.twitter.com/5PEcFbS3Yz
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) March 5, 2026
How concerning Utah State’s play away from home is can be a conversation for another day, however. The Aggies will play in a sold-out Spectrum on Saturday.
What is interesting about this whole road/home comparision is that Utah State’s own game at The Pit earlier this season proved to be an incredible contrast to how poorly the team has typically performed in road games. Virtually everything went well for Calhoun and his squad on that day which ended with an 86-66 drubbing that was the worst defeat by scoring margin New Mexico had suffered in The Pit since 2020.
Mason Falslev had a highly efficient 19 points to lead USU in that game, on 6-of-9 shooting, but it was very much a group effort that led to the dominant win. Adlan Elamin scored 11 points to go with 10 rebounds that helped him join the freshman double-double club at USU. MJ Collins had 14 points and Karson Templin had 12 with five rebounds of his own.
Defensively, things went about as well as Utah State could have hoped. Jake Hall, UNM’s new freshman single-season 3-point record holder went just 2-for-5 from distance and was limited to only 10 points (comfortably below his season average of 15.8). The Lobos only got 45 points from their starting five combined, something their 21 bench points couldn’t make up for.
“The first time we played them, we had a game plan. We executed it very well,” Keller said.
Doing all of that again will be far easier said than done. New Mexico has notched wins at Grand Canyon and against San Diego State in the time since the Aggies won in The Pit. Even the mere fact that the Lobos are playing for a Mountain West title in this game should be enough to show just how dangerous an opponent they are.
Utah State’s biggest keys come down to replicating their defensive effort. They forced 14 turnovers against a normally disciplined offense and Calhoun wants to see that kind of effort again from his players.
“We have to get back to really owning possessions on the defensive end, which will then lead to good offense,” Calhoun said. “We need to have a high deflection game. We need to fit foe, figure things out throughout the possession. We need to problem solve better and just have better activity overall on the defensive end.”
The local fan support for this game is expected to be as high as ever. Utah State has sold out six consecutive home games and has sold out this one (now seven in a row) according to Athletics Director Cam Walker. That includes a portion of seats in The HURD which were put up for sale with the expectation that many students will be out of town with Saturday being the first day of spring break.
