No. 20 Colorado State to take on San Diego State at Viejas Arena on Saturday

DENVER — On to the next one. 

No. 20 Colorado State (11-0) was originally scheduled to play its first conference road game at Boise State (10-4) on Friday night. However, due to the Broncos being unable to play the matchup and Nevada (7-5) being unable to play their scheduled game at Viejas Arena, the Rams now will play at San Diego State (9-3) on Saturday afternoon instead (2:00 p.m. MT). The game will be televised on CBS, according to the Mountain West, which announced the schedule change on Wednesday evening. 

It’s no surprise that Boise State and CSU will not be playing this weekend. Following Tuesday night’s victory over Air Force (8-5), men’s head basketball coach Niko Medved told reporters that he did not expect the game to happen and that the Rams would explore all possibilities if that were the case.

“I think it’s critical that we play,” Medved said. 

According to an inside source, the Rams came extremely close to playing a game at No. 8 Arizona (12-1). Both teams even agreed to the matchup. Once Nevada was unable to play its game against SDSU on primetime TV, though, the Mountain West pushed for the Rams and Aztecs to play instead. This allows the conference to minimize the amount of inactive teams it will have this weekend and help fulfil a premiere time slot for their broadcast partner. 

While the game against the Aztecs isn’t quite as exciting as a matchup with the Wildcats would have been, it’s still a quality game between a pair of contenders in the conference. It’s definitely an important game for CSU’s NCAA Tournament resume. And win or lose, it at least allows the Green & Gold to stay active, which is crucial after recently going 24 days between games. 

If CSU’s game against Boise State cannot be rescheduled down the line, the game will count as a no contest for both teams.