This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
For Utah State football, this shapes up as an important season, quite possibly one of the more important seasons in school history.
Right now, the basketball program is solid, one of the better programs in the western United States. But in this, conference expansion, basketball very clearly doesn't make mountains move. Football does. It's football that drives revenue, controls the collegiate landscape.
So in order for Utah State to truly become a force to be paid attention to, it needs a bigger football profile. That puts more pressure on the performance of the Aggies this season.
Right now, Utah's future is secure. BYU's future is secure. Utah State's isn't. The Western Athletic Conference is hanging by a thread. The "project" has ended in disaster for almost all involved. And while BYU's brand is big enough that everything's hunky dory for the Cougars, the Aggies are hanging off the limb so to speak.
Just win baby. That's what USU can do right now for itself. Just win. Emerge victorious seven times this season. Get to a bowl game. Provide the school with additional revenue. Prove that football is a factor. Sell some games out at Romney Stadium this season, and not just Fresno State and BYU. Sell out Hawaii, Idaho, Idaho State, New Mexico State.
Then the program may have something to work with as it bids for an inclusion in a league like, sayyyyyy, the Mountain West. Even if that doesn't happen, people are bound to take notice of bowl games, of an increased profile. But most of all, of increased money, an increased amount of respect.
Tony Jones