The path to a conference title just became harder for the CSU hoops teams

FORT COLLINS, CO. — The Mountain West is going to Mountain West. 

In a public announcement released Tuesday afternoon the league revealed a revised schedule for both the men’s and women’s teams. 

After neither group was able to play a game over the last three weeks, both Niko Medved and Ryun Williams are now tasked with leading their respective teams through a gauntlet of four games apiece over the course of a week. 

Following the Air Force series the men’s team will host New Mexico on Mar. 3, before facing Nevada on the road on the 5th. The women’s team, on the other hand, will play Air Force on the road this weekend before their make-up series with UNM on the 3rd and 5th of March.*

Now, in some ways it’s good that these groups will have a chance to shake off some rust before the always-challenging single-elimination format in the conference tournament — an event that very well may be the difference between reaching the NCAA Tournament or not for both of these talented squads. In particular the women’s team will likely need to win the Mountain West Tournament in order to reach the NCAA Tournament regardless of where they finish in the regular season standings. The MW tends to be a one-bid league on the women’s side, so the pressure to take the crown in Sin City is immense for Williams’ group. 

The tough part for the women’s team is unlike the men’s tournament, which doesn’t begin until Wednesday of the ensuing week, the Mountain West women start on Sunday, Mar. 7. The Rams will be a top seed so they will begin play on Monday the 8th but that’s still not very much rest for a CSU women’s team that will have just played four games in a week, and will need to follow it up with three wins in as many days in Las Vegas for a guaranteed shot to go dancing.

Looking at the situation, one might assume that the Mountain West would want to look out for the Green & Gold a little bit. Ya know, because both teams have strong chances to reach the ‘Big Dance’ and help bring in some serious money for the league.

Alas, the conference opted to think short-term and prioritize one week of TV money over the potential lucrative pay-out of having multiple teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Otherwise about six or seven of the league’s makeup games next week would not be happening. There’s absolutely no value for Boise State in playing Fresno State, or Wyoming playing Utah State and UNLV. Other than fulfilling the TV agreement, the league is risking a ton with very little to gain. But it is what it is. 

A big win over the Lobos in a game that won’t even be televised does not do much for CSU’s national exposure. It may help juice CSU’s KenPom ranking a little bit, though, especially if it comes after two substantial victories over the Falcons. The metrics seem to love blowout wins — even if they come against lowly opponents — so there is some value for the Rams in these matchups. 

The question is risking exposure to COVID-19 really worth it at this point? The league is still having CSU travel to Nevada, which honestly makes the game against UNM feel forced. 

It’s quite possible that CSU wanted to play UNM to help give themselves a chance to add another win to the resume. With San Diego State getting a pair of forfeits against the Lobos added to their win total, the Aztecs can now clinch the league title outright by winning out. SDSU will host Boise State twice this week before playing UNLV at the Thomas and Mack Center in a makeup game next week, so winning out will be a tough task. 

It should be noted that the Mountain West had previously determined how it would handle forfeit/no contest situations. The MW had also announced that the SDSU-UNM series would not be made up, though we did not know how it would impact the standings until Tuesday. For the sake of fairness, however, the conference could have been flexible and had the Aztecs also play one game against the Lobos next week if it really wanted to. Or the MW could have just let CSU play UNM twice at home and at least skip out on hitting the road on short rest. 

Regardless, CSU will have to survive the remaining slate and hopefully still have enough in the tank to make a run in Las Vegas. The truth is we can complain until the cows come home but these decisions are out of CSU’s control. More importantly, the Rams and their fans wanted a chance for the Green & Gold to participate in March Madness. They have that shot, albeit a tough one. Let’s see what they do with it.

Men’s Schedule: vs. Air Force (Feb. 27 | Mar. 1) | vs. UNM (Mar. 3) | @ Nevada (Mar. 5)

Women’s Schedule: @ Air Force (Feb. 27 | Mar. 1) | vs. UNM (Mar. 3 | Mar. 5)* The original two games were originally scheduled to take place at UNM before being moved to Fort Collins. It is unclear where the makeup games will be played at this time.