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SALT LAKE CITY — The way Utah men's basketball season started, there was optimism around the program that a postseason tournament was in its future this season.
For a time, Utah controlled the top spot in the Pac-12 standings and remained one of the top four teams, record wise, in the conference until late in the season. There was its double-digit win over a ranked Arizona program and a 5-0 start to conference play that marked an improved team in Craig Smith's second season at Utah.
Whether unfortunate luck or a team just running out of gas — or maybe a little bit of both — the Utes ended the season on a six-game losing streak, which included a first-round exit in last week's Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. Injuries mounted, the schedule jumped up in competition, and the overarching feeling to end the season was disappointment.
That feeling likely won't get any easier after Utah found out — not unexpectedly — that it was not included in either the NCAA Tournament or the National Invitational Tournament. It's the fifth consecutive season that Utah has failed to qualify for a postseason tournament and seventh consecutive season outside of the NCAA Tournament.
Utah last appeared in the NIT to conclude the 2017-18 season, where it eventually lost to Penn State in the championship game at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
After looking like a bubble team in this year's NCAA Tournament field for a time, Utah became squarely locked into the NIT field — and even appeared like it would host a game or more. But Utah lost six straight and eight of its last 10 games to knock itself out of contention, even before the official field was announced Sunday evening.
Left on the outside again and looking for a future postseason opportunity, Utah remains entrenched in mediocrity in men's basketball. Utah has been good enough to contend with most teams — and even beat some along the way — but the ultimate goal of making it to the Big Dance remains a barren wasteland of hope.
None of that is lost on Smith, who knows he has to improve his roster to have any postseason hopes in the immediate future.
"Obviously, we have a lot of room to grow, though, to get to where we want to go next year," Smith said on Wednesday after Stanford defeated Utah 73-62. "It's definitely solidified some of the things that we felt like we need to recruit as we go into the year, and we'll see what happens. ... But we've got to keep getting better.
"We were in a position — I think we were 8-3 at one point in league play — and we were right there, and you've got to get it done. ... We were right there in a lot of games here late and we just couldn't find a way to win. And that's the thing, you've got to find a way to win and make plays as a team, and that can be contagious."
But it's still not good enough, and Smith needs players that can score the ball at a high rate to contend in the Pac-12. Once Gabe Madsen suffered an ankle injury that held him out for five of the last six weeks of the regular season, Utah struggled to find a second offensive weapon to compliment the post game of senior Branden Carlson.
Where Utah goes to find that remains unknown in the immediate end to the season.
And in the age of the transfer portal, there's no guarantee Utah's roster will look anything like it did this season. The only certain is that Utah will be without fifth-year senior Marco Anthony. Carlson, too, is a senior but has another year of eligibility available should he opt to use it.
On Wednesday night, Carlson said the end to the season struggles won't have an impact on his decision, and that "whatever I decide is going to be what is just best for me in the end."
And while 68 teams around the country will take part in, arguably, one of the best sporting events of the year, Smith will be working to secure an improved roster for next season in hopes that his team will be counted among those teams next year.
