GAME NOTES: A battle in the Beehive State tips off the 2014-15 campaign, as the Utah State Aggies entertain the Weber State Wildcats at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

The Aggies, who are 80-29 all-time in season openers, are members of the Mountain West Conference who have won 15 of the 16 season openers under head coach Stew Morrill, which includes a perfect mark of 8-0 at home. The team is coming off a 2013-14 campaign in which it finished 18-14 overall and was 7-11 in league action, the best mark of any program new to the MWC last season. Unfortunately, the Aggies saw their season come to an end when they were crushed by a top-10 San Diego State group in the MWC Tournament, 73-39.

As for the Wildcats, representatives of the Big Sky Conference where they've been a dominant force for so many years, they started off the 2013-14 campaign with three straight defeats, four in the first five outings, but managed to bounce back in a big way thanks to nine wins in 10 contests during one stretch. The team won the Big Sky Conference Tournament with an 88-67 victory over North Dakota, but was then ushered out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round by Arizona, 68-59.

Overall, Weber State finished 19-12, thanks in large part to a successful 14-2 mark at home, and was 14-6 in league action.

USU owns a 40-26 advantage in the all-time series with Weber State, winning all but eight of the 31 contests that have taken place in Logan over the years. Last season, the Wildcats put up a strong fight at home, but still bowed, 77-71, in Ogden.

Jeremy Senglin and Joel Bolomboy are the key pieces to the Weber State puzzle this season. Senglin has quite the career in front of him, after being named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year while starting all 31 games for the Wildcats. Thrown into the fire, Senglin was third on the team in scoring last season with 10.9 ppg, doing quite a bit of damage behind the 3-point line where he knocked down 40.5 percent of his chances and led the program with 62 conversions overall. As for Bolomboy, he was a terror in the paint with 11.0 rpg, which was tops in the league and third in the nation. The Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, Bolomboy was also honorable mention all- conference as he produced 8.7 ppg, but this season he'll need to boost his scoring numbers since he will be more involved in the offense.

Sean Harris is the lone senior on the Utah State roster and he appeared in just 10 games for the squad a season ago, scoring a grand total of six points, matching the number of personal fouls he was charged with. With 11 newcomers, Harris will be needed to show them the ropes, not so much become a leader during game day on the floor. Sophomore forward Jalen Moore, one of four players to appear in every game last season, is the top returning scorer with his 5.6 ppg, while JoJo McGlaston showed up in 24 games and was responsible for a mere 2.3 ppg. Although just a freshman, forward David Collette has already shown that he can handle the action on the inside, but will still need some time to learn the subtleties of the college game.

Not only has Utah State owned the series between the teams, the Aggies have also won all but one of 33 games when they have started a season at home since the 1957-58 campaign. Unfortunately for the hosts, the tide might be turning and the Wildcats could be riding high in this particular matchup.