FanHouse StewMorrill

St. Mary's might have been the biggest winner in Saturday's BracketBuster following a huge 75-64 win over Utah State. The Gaels had been adrift in recent weeks, seemingly rudderless without star Patrick Mills.

But St. Mary's has been solid in recent weeks, fattening up on the weaker teams in the West Coast Conference. Saturday's win over the Aggies was a big exclamation point on the season, letting people know that the Gaels are still in the hunt for an at-large bid.

Not to say that St. Mary's is in right now; the Gaels still have a lot of work to do. But the team is squarely on the bubble right now.

Nobody likes to lose. Ever. And it's insulting to claim that losing might be the best thing that could ever happen to a team. Nothing will infuriate a fan base more than some outsider claiming that losing might be the best thing for a team.

So let's avoid that cliche right here. Losing is never a good thing. But sometimes you have to look at the bright side of things. Look big picture.

And in the wake of No. 21 Utah State's 10-point loss at Boise State on Saturday night, there might be some good that will come from it.

BracketBusters 2009 matchups have been announced. FanHouse has the skinny.

The BracketBusters series is going to finally force No. 22 Utah State to play somebody good. Well, sort of.

Utah State finally cracked the Top 25 thanks in part to a schedule that includes more cupcakes than a Duncan Hines display case. Utah State's strength of schedule is currently as shameful 275 -- and that includes games against BYU and Utah.

Utah State is lurking. The Aggies have been hanging out in the "also receiving votes" section of the weekly polls, looking to finally break through any time now.

This is almost an indignity for Stew Morrill's club. Utah State is 19-1, 7-0 in the Western Athletic Conference with the lone loss coming to BYU in Salt Lake City. Not exactly a bad loss. Still, it's not enough to sway the voters.

Utah State has nine consecutive 20-win seasons, and nine consecutive postseason appearances -- including five NCAA Tournament showings. So they have the pedigree, but not our respect.

However, the bigger question is, does Utah State deserve it?