Apples and oranges

From Myron Medcalf/ESPN:

Utah State (WAC to Mountain West): Utah or Las Vegas?

Stew Morrill is old-school. He's been a head coach for nearly 30 years, 15 of them with Utah State.

Change has been rare for the longtime leader. So he's not completely comfortable with the current turbulence in college sports.

"It concerns me how quickly the landscape can shift and change, how decisions can be made without everybody's best interest at heart," he said. "Geographically, I just have always felt there needs to be some geographical sense as to what league you're in. You kind of just hold your breath that everything is going to stabilize."

But he's excited about the potential that Utah State's switch from the WAC to the Mountain West may grant his program.

Utah State boasts one of the nation's most passionate fan bases, recognized for its stirring pregame "I believe that we will win" chant. And according to a livability.com poll released last year, Logan, Utah, is the No. 3 college town in the country. All of that coupled with one of the nation's lowest crime rates should help Morrill sell the program to a larger pool of recruits with the help of the Mountain West's national recognition and TV exposure.

"We've got a home-court advantage," Morrill said. "The more we can portray that to potential recruits and get that out there, the better for us."

But Utah State was a powerhouse in the WAC. And now the Aggies are positioned in a fortified conference that features five teams that earned NCAA tourney bids last season.

And although Logan has a certain appeal, Morrill recognizes that it might not surpass San Diego State's beaches and UNLV's nightlife in the eyes of potential recruits.

"If a kid visits Vegas and a kid visits Utah, obviously we've got our work cut out for us to impress upon him the differences in the quality of a college town," he said.

The premise put forth by Morrill is odd.The Aggies and the Rebels/Aztecs have not and will will not be competing against each other for the same talents, regardless of residing in the same conference.