COLUMN: Rams should take damage control approach remainder of regular season

It may not seem like it right now, but Colorado State men’s basketball has an outside chance of winning their conference tournament and barging their way into into the NCAA tournament.

Let’s face it, though. The final 13 games of the regular season for the Rams could get ugly at times. Even though Larry Eustachy brought on an emergency walk-on to get his active roster to eight players, CSU will need to scratch and claw just to get five more wins in Mountain West play.

However, it’s not like this team hasn’t already gone through its fair share of adversity. The Rams played without leading scorer Gian Clavell for the first nine games after the senior guard was arrested for the second time in 14 months. CSU went 7-2 in that stretch, which included a road win over Colorado.

Clavell made his 2016-17 debut off the bench in a home drubbing of Northern Colorado. CSU would then lose four of their next five, several of which ended in painful fashion. The Rams endured heartbreaking, final possession losses to Loyola Marymount, Long Beach State and Boise State. by a combined five points.

Fast forward less than 72 hours later when it was announced that Che Bob, Devocio Butler and Kimani Jackson were declared academically ineligible for the spring semester. To say that Eustachy is limited with his bench moving forward would be an understatement. The green and gold will look to the 5-11 Juan Sabino II to spell players when possible.

The trying times didn’t end there though. A sleeping giant in New Mexico came to Fort Collins with the hope of taking their early season frustration out on the Rams. Not only did UNM wallop CSU as the visiting team, but also showed what a deeper and more talented team can do to them.

It feels like the Rams have already dealt with a season’s worth of frustration in mid-January. It’s why Eustachy, as competitive as he is, might want to already start thinking about the conference tournament.

College basketball fans and analysts nationally would agree that the Mountain West likely sees just one representative in the Big Dance come March. Eustachy will have to be as creative as ever to distribute minutes amongst eight guys while toeing the line between saving his team’s legs and coaching to win what might be a meaningless game in February.

A look around the Mountain West’s best

Nevada – Through Monday night, Nevada sits atop the conference at 4-1. The Wolf Pack, 15-3 overall, boast five players averaging double-figures and that includes the extremely gifted Cameron Oliver. Barring injuries, Nevada should be the Mountain West favorite.

Boise State – CSU outplayed the Broncos basically from start to finish at Taco Bell Arena last month. But a Chandler Hutchison banked 3-pointer sent the Rams home unhappy. Boise State has an impressive road win over Utah State and a 12-point home win against San Diego State so far in conference play.

Fresno State – The Bulldogs may not have the starpower of other teams in the league, but they certainly have depth. Similar to Nevada, Fresno State lists five players averaging double-figures. Though the Bulldogs beat Nevada at home, their back-to-back losses to San Jose State and Air Force could haunt them down the road.

New Mexico – Elijah Brown can put the Lobos on his back, as the Rams saw firsthand Saturday. Along with Tim Williams, UNM presents arguably the most dangerous duo in the Mountain West. They too are Jekyll-and-Hyde though, evidenced by a road win at San Diego State and a bad home loss to UNLV.

San Diego State – Their 10-7 overall record makes you want to believe the Aztecs are in for a down year. But they’ve played one of the most challenging, if not most challenging, early season Mountain West schedule of any team so far. It’s hard to believe Steve Fisher won’t have this team tournament-ready by the end of February.

What does all this mean for CSU? Well, while there may be plenty of talent in the league, there’s also inexperience on just about every team. The door to win the conference tournament will be open for most teams.

It’s why Eustachy must coach the remainder of the regular season with an eye on March.