LOGAN— Utah State University officially announced its move to the Mountain West Conference – beginning July 1, 2013 – Friday in front of a packed auditorium at the new Agricultural Sciences building.   “I know Moses wandered in the wilderness for 40 years,” USU President Stan Albrecht said. “I don’t know why we had to do it for 50.”   The Aggies will make the move with fellow Western Athletic Conference member San Jose State, and join recently departed WAC members Nevada, Fresno State, and Hawaii (football only). The...

  LOGAN— The day Utah State University fans and alumni have been waiting for since the first domino of conference realignment fell has finally arrived. USU will announce Friday that it will be leaving the Western Athletic Conference and joining the Mountain West Conference.   Though rumors have been swirling for months, the smoke built into some serious flames over the past couple of weeks. USU Athletic Director added fuel to the fire when he joked that the Aggies were working on changing the WAC conference logos on their football...

  LOGAN— Senior Rebecca Holliday said it meant a lot to compete in her final Western Athletic Conference Gymnastics Championship at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.   “It was really fun and I’m so glad that we got to have WAC my senior year here in the Spectrum,” Holliday said.   Holliday said being at home put the team in a different mind-set.   “We said any doubts you have get rid of them,” she said. “Attack everything, don’t doubt yourself and get after everything.”   Holliday and Freshman Sarah...

LOGAN— The USU men’s basketball team may not have been the top WAC team in 2012. Saturday night though, they were clearly the best WAC team in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament as they blasted the Idaho Vandals, 76-56.   “I thought that we came out excited to play. We had some energy and at this time of the year that is critical,” USU head coach Stew Morrill said. “Obviously, it is easier when you are the home team, but it is not always a guarantee. I was just really pleased...

  TUCSCON, Ariz.— A top road bars score and second-best overall score of the season on the apparatus paced Utah State gymnastics to a 192.975 and a third-place finish in a quad meet hosted by No. 18 Arizona Friday night, joined by Bridgeport and Air Force.   The host Wildcats of Arizona won the meet with a 196.525, followed by the Purple Knights of Bridgeport with a 193.525.  USU’s 192.975 was good for third, just ahead of the Falcons of Air Force’s 192.175.   Friday was USU’s final tune-up before...

  LAS VEGAS— The Utah State women’s basketball team saw its goal of a Western Athletic Conference championship come to an end Friday, falling to Louisiana Tech, 73-69, in the semifinals.   “Did we play a perfect game tonight, no, we didn’t obviously,” USU head coach Raegan Pebley said. “But our kids gave all that they had and I’m very, very proud of them.”   It was a back-and-forth first half between the teams.   It started out as a 3-point contest as the first four shots came from behind...

  LAS VEGAS— It’s hard to beat the same team three times in one season, and the USU men’s basketball team found that out firsthand Thursday night as the Aggies fell to Louisiana Tech in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament, 72-70.   Utah State had a chance to tie or win after the Bulldog’s Trevor Gaskins missed a free throw with 4.1 seconds remaining, but the Aggies did not get a shot off before time expired. With no timeouts remaining, Kyisean Reed rebounded the miss and...

Las Vegas—In a tale of two halves, the Utah State women’s basketball team came out on top, defeating Nevada 75-66 Wednesday in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament. The Aggies had four players score at least 15 points as USU overcame a slow start against the Wolfpack.   “It was definitely tough,” said USU guard Devyn Christensen, who finished with a team-high 18 points.  “(Nevada) has been getting better each time and I think they wanted to play us. They came in with a good game plan...

  LOGAN— Less than two weeks ago, the USU men’s basketball team seemed to be on its last leg. Three straight conference wins and a road sweep later, the Aggies have breathed some life into their season once again.   This has been Utah State’s (17-14, 8-6) most up and down season in more than a decade. Things started promising with a season-opening win against rival BYU, but expectations were quickly tempered as the Aggies followed that up with a loss to Weber State.   Next the Aggies lost senior...

  LOGAN— On Senior Night in the Spectrum, the Utah State gymnastics team fell to Brigham Young University by two points, losing 193.675-195.525.   “We just looked a little bit flat,” USU head coach Jeff Richards said. “Not our wow. Usually at home we feed on the energy here, but tonight it just didn’t get us where we need to be.”   Sophomore Paige Jones picked up the all-around victory with a career high 39.200. Jones won vault and tied for first on the bars on her way to the...