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BoD South Region- First Round #8 Utah State vs #9 St. Mary's

Who wins this South Regional 1st Round matchup?


  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .

EvilMonkeyInTheCloset

Well-Known Member
Feb 25, 2008
50,179
21,253
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Your closet, most likely......
#8 Utah State Aggies (26-8, 12-6)

utah-state-aggies_0.png

MWC (t2nd)
Conf. tourney champs
Off- 76.5 ppg / Def- 64.1 ppg
NCAA Appearances- 21 (Last: 2019)

Top Scorers:
Sam Merril 19.7 ppg
Neemias Queta 13.0 ppg
Justin Bean 11.9 ppg
Diogo Breto 8.5 ppg
Brock Miller 8.4 ppg

#9 Saint Mary's Gaels (26-8, 11-5)

saint-marys-college.jpg

WCC (3rd)
Off- 75.3 ppg / Def- 66.9 ppg
NCAA Appearances- 10 (Last: 2019)

Top Scorers:
Jordan Ford 21.9 ppg
Malik Fitts 16.5 ppg
Tanner Krebs 9.1 ppg
Matthias Tass 6.6 ppg
Dan Fotu 6.4 ppg


The preseason MWC favorite Aggies put together a solid 2019-20 campaign that included a 13-2 start, a win over Florida, and an AP ranking as high as 15th. After losing their regular season finale at New Mexico, the Aggies flipped the script and beat the Lobos in the MWC tournament, jump-starting a run that would culminate with a stunning tournament title win over potential #1 seed San Diego State. This offense may put up a lot of points, but as guard Sam Merrill goes, so do the fortunes of the Aggies. It would also be a cause for concern that Utah State struggled away from home, going just 4-6 including an 81-73 loss to their 1st Round opponent, St. Mary's.

Speaking of the Gaels, this perennial bridesmaid to Gonzaga immediately got the country's attention following a season-opening win against Wisconsin. Their season was littered with quality wins including a season sweep of BYU, the home win over Utah State, and a 40-pt rout over Arizona State. However, the one foe they always seem to play second-fiddle to, got them for 3 of their 8 losses including another loss in the WCC Finals. This hypothetical 1st Round matchup with Utah State, though, would be expected to be a high-scoring barn-burner as both teams sport offenses that can put points up in bunches. Not to mention, the matchup between guards Sam Merrill of Utah State, and Jordan Ford, who torched Pepperdine for a career-high 42 pts in a WCC semifinal.
 
Watched the full game in November. Was an extremely entertaining game. SMC pulled away late, but it was a back-and-forth throughout. It's worth a watch, IMO.





Sam Merrill was playing like an assassin in the MWC Tournament. Dude has hit some incredibly big buckets, including game-winners against San Diego State and LSU. I think Utah State would get revenge in this potential rematch. For the record, though, I don't think the committee would put these two teams together. It's actually discouraged by the selection committee

Additional Considerations

1. If possible, rematches of non-conference regular-season games should be avoided in the First Four and first round.

2. If possible, after examining the previous two years’ brackets, teams or conferences will not be moved out of its natural region or geographic area an inordinate number of times.

3. If possible, rematches from the previous tournament should be avoided in the First Four and first round.
 
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