Fitting it is that Utah State is the NCAA Tournament flag-bearer for the state of Utah. The school should raise and wave a banner of resiliency, of pluckiness, of winning.
Bouncing off a season a year ago — 17-17 and 8-10 in the Mountain West — that was anything but satisfying, the Aggies have bounced back with all the force of a Super Ball hurled by Craig Smith into the team shower stall.
That ball bounces, still — straight into first-round play of the Midwest region of the NCAAs as an eight seed, beginning with a Friday game against ninth-seeded Washington, and a possible second-round match with North Carolina.