Crossroads for the Aggies

Utah State is at a crossroads. In one direction is a cliff and almost certain destruction. The other road leads to a much more secure future with friends old and new.
The only problem is USU president Stan Albrecht and athletic director Scott Barnes aren’t the ones driving the car.
They might be in the back seat, giving directions and pointing the desired way to go, but in the drivers seat is another person who may have an entirely different objective in mind.
How the trips ends for Utah State probably won’t be known for a few more days.
The real issue is the life-or-death implications for Utah State’s football team.
After surviving on life support for a decade or two of shifting winds that saw the team bounce from a dying Big West, to the Sun Belt and Independent status, the Aggies seemed to be on stable — if not optimal — ground in the Western Athletic Conference. But even the WAC was subject to changes not in its control.
As the Mountain West Conference took life and grew to a respected and ambitious conference above the profile of an also-growing WAC, the cherry picking lead to what we saw last week.
The WAC, with Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada-Reno each on their way to the MWC, is no longer on life support. The WAC is on its death bed and not even organ transplants from Montana, UC Davis or Texas-San Antonio may be enough to save the conference as a football entity.
Utah State, undoubtedly, knows this.
After standing strong with its conference mates in a show of loyalty, the Aggies were abandoned by self-interest-seeking Fresno and Nevada — and it’s hard to fault them in many ways.
But that show of honor, integrity and loyalty is no longer needed. Every school remaining in the WAC should be worried about one thing — itself.
Utah State, which according to sources at the university and from around the WAC and MWC is again working toward a spot in the Mountain West.
The door that was flung open with a big welcome sign just a few days ago was not slammed entirely shut, two sources at USU — calling it ‘ajar’ and ‘very complex’ –told me on Thursday.
Inclusion in the Mountain West is still an option — but Albrecht and Barnes aren’t in the driver’s seat any longer.
If the Aggies don’t end up in the MWC, it would be no surprise to see football coach Gary Andersen and even basketball coach Stew Morrill begin looking at other coaching opportunities quickly.
While the WAC might not actually cease to be a conference, it will cease to be a home either coach feels comfortable in.
And, if there’s anything USU should have learned from its disastrous run in the Sun Belt and as an Independent, it’s that recovering from such a life is mighty difficult to do.
Utah State football is just now beginning to rid itself of the effects of that cancer.
A second bout in the ICU might simply be too much to overcome again.

The Aggies will keep practicing through the week until Saturday’s formal fall scrimmage at 1 p.m. followed by Aggie Family Fun Day at Romney Stadium.
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