The only thing better than a college basketball game is a college basketball game featuring a mid-major team. For those who don't know what the term "mid-major" actually entitles, I suggest you visit The Mid-Majority- the best college basketball blog, period. As explained by The Mid-Majority, a mid-major is a team that belongs to a conference that spends less than $20 million on athletics. The conference athletic budget may seem to not have a huge effect; after all, there are still 5 players on the court for each team. However, teams belonging to big money conferences beat teams belonging to conferences under $20 million 85% of the time. I have defined mid-major a little differently for the sake of this article by including Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference. Kyle Whelliston, the writer of The Mid-Majority, shuns Gonzaga because they have become a basketball powerhouse, but I will not.

Here are 13 intriguing games this season involving either 1 or 2 mid-major teams. They have been sorted into 4 categories. They are as follows:

RPI RAISERS: These are games that feature teams who are competitive within their respective mid-major conference, but will most likely lose by 20+. The biggest benefit from these games will be the spike in RPI from playing a top team.

STATEMENT POTENTIAL: These games allow the underdog team to either compete and show that they are no N.J.I.T. pushover, or to play the game of their decade and come away with a win.

UPSET POTENTIAL: These games have a relatively good chance of the mid-major underdog to come away with a win.

MID-MAJOR SLUGFESTS: These are games between two mid-majors that nobody will be watching because they 1) have never heard of either team or 2) because the games will not be as hyped up as they should.

Ok, let's do this preview right. We won't be talking about last week because the Aggies choked/imploded, just like every other game this year minus the SUU game. I should start out telling you that I will spell Hawaii as Hawaii, not Hawai'i, mostly out of laziness, but also because my spell check thinks Hawai'i is incorrect. I'm sure you will all live.

Why Hawaii Fans Think They Are Good (and why they are not):

Let me start with a summary of Hawaii fans. They travel better than any school should, considering the distance. They travel far and they travel by numbers. The most passionate fans I have ever seen come to cheer for the warriors. I am sure much of this is due to the distinct roots in the culture and the school, as well as UH being the only D1 sports team on the islands. That said, many of their fans have a sense of entitlement. No team or fan base, not even BYU or Utah, have a lower level of sportsmanship than the 16 years I have seen of Hawaii athletics at UNLV and USU football and basketball games.

On to the team.

Ok, so it isn't exactly a new Spectrum. Don't fix what isn't broken, right? But the inside of the Spectrum did undergo some very nice renovations this summer. Pictures can be found here. When I say nice, I mean REALLY nice. Basically, I want my basement to look like this someday.

Today, it starts. Here are the 5 best YouTube videos highlighting Aggie basketball.

Number 5: The block. This video took place during Christmas break when the crowd was relatively non existent (by number, not noise). I was at the game in the front row and I can tell you, the ball went into the 5th row of the student section.

This week's Xbox preview will be short, since I am working on an article for USU BASKETBALL. Yes, it has arrived.

Vegas had LTU by 2.5 at the beginning of the week and USU by 2 by the time the game started. USU won by 2, so Vegas beat EA Sports this week. Good game, Aggies!

EA SPORTS- 1 POINTSPREAD- 3

Utah State Aggies @ Fresno State Bulldogs

NCAA 10 game ratings

USU offense C- FSU defense C

USU defense D FSU offense B-

USU overall D+ FSU overall C

Last Week:
The Aggies started quick and held on to beat La Tech, despite playing without their top three defensive players by the end of the game. Igboeli, Murphey, and Brindley are all listed as doubtful for the game against Fresno State. The Aggie defense managed to hold La Tech to 108 yards over the first three quarters and only118 yards rushing for the game total. Lack of depth emerged though as players left with injuries and fatigue set in during the 4th quarter. Don't under estimate how big Andersen's first WAC win can be for momentum going into Fresno State.
Last week I said the Aggies had to be careful of the punt returns of La Tech and they listened. However, they decided to kickoff to Livas (WHY, COACH, WHY!?) and he burned them. That Won't happen again. Listen to my advice this week. And yes, I realize G.A. doesn't really read my blog.

Fresno State: The Good, The Bad, and The

Ugly

The Good:
The Bulldogs boast the number 1 rusher in the entire country. Mathews has 1,131 yards on 156 carries and 9 rushing touchdowns. To put that in perspective, Turbin has 734 yards on 113 carries with only 4 rushing touchdowns.

NCAA 10 predicted an Aggie victory last week. It looked like EA sports was going to be right for a while, but the Pack pulled it out in the end.

EA SPORTS- 1 POINTSPREAD-2

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs @ Utah State Aggies

NCAA 10 game ratings

USU offense C- LTU defense C-

USU defense D LTU offense B-

USU overall D+ LTU overall C

Last Week:
The Aggies led for most of the game against UNR who I've hated deeply since childhood, thanks to my UNLV upbringing. All animosities put aside, the Aggies played a lot better than they did the week before, and the Wolf Pack was clearly the better team. I think most fans counted UNR as a loss before the season began anyway, but the loss was a huge blow to bowl eligibility hopes (or dreams, not hopes now). At 1-5, USU can only afford to lose one more game and still go to a bowl.

La Tech: The Good, The Bad, and The

Ugly

The Good:
La Tech is coming off of a 45-7 win over New Mexico State. The Bulldogs managed to hold NMSU to only 6 first downs while picking up 30 with their own offense. They ran for over 300 yards and forced 3 turnovers. In short, the Bulldogs looked like a dominate team.

The WAC preseason basketball polls are out and the Aggies have been picked to finish first in both the media and coaches poll. Some smart media man gave a first place vote to SJSU and they still ended up being picked to finish 2nd to last. Go figure. This must be the lowest predicted team to ever receive a first place vote. Read the complete utahstateaggies.com release here. First place votes are in parentheses.

2009-10 WAC Preseason Coaches Poll
Rk.           Team                                  Pts.
1.            UTAH STATE (8)                        64
2.            Nevada (1)                            53
3             New Mexico State                      50
4.            Idaho                                 42
5.            Louisiana Tech                        31
6.            Fresno State                          30
7.            Boise State                           23
8.            San Jose State                        19
9.            Hawai'i                               12
2009-10 WAC Preseason Media Poll
Rk.           Team                                  Pts.
1.            UTAH STATE (15)                       273
2.            Nevada (12)                           269
3             New Mexico State (6)                  226
4.            Idaho                                 193
5.            Boise State                           145
6.            Louisiana Tech                        140
7.            Fresno State                          130
8.            San Jose State (1)                     88
9.            Hawai'i                                66
2009-10 Preseason Coaches All-WAC Teams
First-Team
Luke Babbitt, So., F, Nevada
Mac Hopson, Sr., G, Idaho
Armon Johnson, Jr., G, Nevada
Jared Quayle, Sr., G, Utah State
Jahmar Young, Jr., G, New Mexico State
Second-Team
Roderick Flemings, Sr., F, Hawai'i
Paul George, So., G/F, Fresno State
Kyle Gibson, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech
Sylvester, Seay, Sr., F, Fresno State
Tai Wesley, Jr., F, Utah State
Preseason Player of the Year: Luke Babbitt, Nevada
2009-10 Preseason Media All-WAC Team
First-Team
Luke Babbitt, So., F, Nevada
Mac Hopson, Sr., G, Idaho
Armon Johnson, Jr., G, Nevada
Jared Quayle, Sr., G, Utah State
Jahmar Young, Jr., G, New Mexico State
Preseason Player of the Year: Luke Babbitt, Nevada
Newcomer of the Year: Steffan Johnson, Idaho