We entered this journey back in November with a loss to Southern Utah. I didn't know what to think, but was cautious to discount Utah. I felt they would improve and things would look bright for Utah basketball. Then there was the Santa Clara loss, the home loss to Colorado and suddenly the Utes were off to an 0-3 start. A three game winning streak, including a dominant victory over then undefeated Washington State in Salt Lake City pulled the Utes to .500 and that was the closest they'd come to a winning season the rest of the year. Tonight it ended, with an embarrassing 80-54 loss to UNLV in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. And so ends the Ray Giacoletti era here in Salt Lake City. A season that started with disastrous results, ended just as badly.
Now comes to rehabilitation, the near impossible task of forgetting this entire season. Like a soldier ravaged by the actions of war, we're left putting everything back together again. Who'll be the head man next year and does this debacle of a game hinder the possibility of getting someone great? These questions and more will be asked in the coming weeks, but for now we can only follow up questions with even more questions. There aren't any answers and all we can do is hope that things only improve.
The 2005-2006 season comes to a close, one which will probably go down as the worst in Utah basketball history. It was ugly, depressing and at times completely humorous in a morbid kind of way. Now it's over and we can move on, hoping the path leads us back to the top of the mountain.