Man Challenge: Win the CIT

This is an official issue of a man challenge to the 2011-12 Utah State Aggies basketball team: Win the CollegeInsider.com Tournament!!!

In the past we've seen a handful of very talented teams find themselves in the NIT after falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid and go into the consolation bracket only to kill over and die. We've seen great seasons where the team fell short of an NCAA auto-bid turn into disappointing home losses, and in turn, taken away any credibility to any claim that Utah State should have been an NCAA Tournament team in the first place.

Even in the season where the Aggies became the first ever top 25 team to be excluded from The Big Dance, they left any passion for winning in the regular season and went from overall No. 1 seed in the NIT to an opening round loss at home. It's a difficult to see a team get their hearts ripped out. It's even more difficult to watch as a fan when they don't even try to put their heart back into things to make the best of a tough situation.

This year has been different though. This year there wasn't anybody believing Utah State should be in the NCAA Tourney. No, this year many people were believing that USU shouldn't even be included in the CBI or the CIT, where we find ourselves now. But regardless of where anyone thinks we should be, we're here.

So make this year different in one more way! Make this year the one where the Aggies win some games in a postseason tournament! It hasn't happened since 2001, in either the NCAA or NIT tournaments and now is a prime opportunity to shed that "can't win in the postseason" stigma hanging over the program.

Utah State is arguably the highest-profile program among this year's field. We've been through a rough year with too few ups and too many downs. We've taken a handful of difficult blows throughout the year in losing players to injury, losing more games at home than the previous seven years combined and seeing our streak of 23 win seasons come to a harsh end. We've been punching other teams in the nose for years and years without them rarely getting in shots of their own for so long, and this year that evened out a bit.

Now is when we pick ourselves back up and say to the country, "We're still here assholes!!! We'll always be here! You'll push us down and we'll get right back up again, and again, and again, and again, and again!!"

Win five more games this year and we've got a championship on our hands. It may not be the best championship, but it's one hell of a jumping off point for a following season and a great way to close out what otherwise would have been a miserable season. A CIT championship could turn this season from one that people want to forget completely into a season in where people look back and see a team that kept fighting and never quit until they had something to hang their hat on and banner to add to The Spectrum.

Like I said... Man Challenge: Win the CIT!!!