The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Round of 32/Sweet 16

March Madness is winding down with only four teams remaining. Up to this point, the tournament has been a mixed bag for Mountain West teams. The opening round saw some underwhelming results with early exits by Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, and New Mexico. Utah State and San Diego State were the only teams to move on; Let’s see how they fared in this edition of “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly.”

The Good

San Diego State vs. Yale (Round of 32)

Call it good fortune or luck. For the second straight year, the Aztecs played a lower-seeded team in the Round of 32. Whatever you want to call it, the Aztecs did not mess around with Yale; they obliterated the Bulldogs from the opening whistle. Jaedon LeDee continued to flex his muscles with another outstanding March Madness performance, finishing the game with 26 points and nine rebounds despite playing only 29 minutes. Darrion Trammell also had a solid game, finishing with 18 points in the 85-57 rout of Yale.

The Bad

San Diego State vs. Connecticut

Similar to Utah State and Purdue below, it was clear that these two teams are not in the same league. The Aztecs hung around for the better part of the first half, but the athleticism and size of the Huskies eventually wore them down, leading to a convincing 82-52 loss for San Diego State. It wasn’t the way the Aztecs wanted their season to end, but it was another nice run for a team that is becoming known for their success in March Madness.

The Ugly

Utah State vs. Purdue (Round of 32)

On X (formerly Twitter), I mentioned how this game looked like a scrimmage between a junior varsity and a varsity team. Sometimes the varsity team doesn’t take the younger squad seriously and they let them hang around. Eventually, the varsity team decides to flex its muscles and show the little guys who’s boss. The Aggies started the game well; they looked like they were going to give the Boilermakers all they could handle. At about the halfway point of the first half, Zach Edey and the rest of the Purdue squad were done messing around and it was pretty clear by halftime that the Aggies were outmatched and had no chance at competing against one of the top teams in the nation. Aggie fans shouldn’t be upset by the performance; the team did an excellent job of representing their program and the Mountain West.

What did you think about the performances of San Diego State and Utah State? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.