It’s still early in December, with March college basketball tournaments still nearly a season away, but the national spotlight already shines on the Front Range.
When the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season tips off tonight in NCAA Division II, four Colorado teams will be ranked in the top 25.
Metro State, which hosts a men’s and women’s doubleheader tonight and Saturday at the Auraria Event Center, has both its teams at No. 3 in the D-II coaches poll.
The Roadrunners men (5-0) trail only No. 1 Bellarmine and second- ranked Missouri Southern.
And they’ll enjoy the return of senior guard Reggie Evans. The RMAC preseason player of the year, a former standout at Aurora’s Rangeview High, averaged 20.5 points and 7.5 rebounds this season before a leg injury knocked him out of Metro’s past three games. His 1,130 career points rank 12th all time at Metro.
Colorado Mines’ men enter the weekend at No. 11. The Orediggers, led by junior guard Brett Green, travel across town to face Colorado Christian on Saturday. Peyton High grad Green has scored in double figures in four consecutive games in pacing Mines (4-0).
Metro’s women (4-0) are behind No. 1 Bentley and No. 2 Arkansas Tech. Both Metro State teams host New Mexico Highlands and Western New Mexico tonight and Saturday, with Regis facing the other team on alternating nights.
The Fort Lewis women this weekend dropped three spots to No. 7 after losing to UC San Diego last week. The Skyhawks host CU-Colorado Springs and CSU-Pueblo this weekend.
Colorado Mines’ Kelsey Sigl, the league defensive player of the week, leads the RMAC women with 23.0 points per game. Metro’s Jenessa Burke, a freshman from Highlands Ranch High, scored 25 points in a win over West Texas A&M last week to lead the Roadrunners.
RMAC hoops tipoff
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season starts this weekend across the Front Range:
Men
Today
Western New Mexico at Regis, 5 p.m.
N.M. Highlands at Metro State, 7 p.m.
Chadron State at Colorado Mesa, 7:30 p.m.
CU-Colorado Springs at Fort Lewis, 7:30 p.m.
CSU-Pueblo at Adams State, 8 p.m.
Nebraska-Kearney at Western State, 8 p.m.
Saturday
New Mexico Highlands at Regis, 5 p.m.
Western New Mexico at Metro State, 7 p.m.
Colorado Mines at Colorado Christian, 7 p.m.
CSU-Pueblo at Fort Lewis, 7:30 p.m.
Nebraska-Kearney at Colorado Mesa, 7:30 p.m.
Chadron State at Western State, 8 p.m.
CU-Colorado Springs at Adams State, 8 p.m.
Women
Today
N.M. Highlands at Metro State, 5 p.m.
Chadron State at Colorado Mesa, 5:30 p.m.
CU-Colorado Springs at Fort Lewis, 5:30 p.m.
CSU-Pueblo at Adams State, 6 p.m.
Nebraska-Kearney at Western State, 6 p.m.
Western New Mexico at Regis, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Colorado Mines at Colorado Christian, 5 p.m.
Western New Mexico at Metro State, 5 p.m.
Nebraska-Kearney at Colorado Mesa, 5:30 p.m.
CSU-Pueblo at Fort Lewis, 5:30 p.m.
Chadron State at Western State, 6 p.m.
CU-Colorado Springs at Adams State, 6 p.m.
New Mexico Highlands at Regis, 7 p.m.
STAY ON THE COUCH
True animosity.
There’s no staged bad blood between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito. It’s all real. When those boxers faced off for an interview with each other on HBO last month, separated only by Max Kellerman, it made for intense TV.
So when the two fight Saturday at a sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York — airing on HBO pay-per-view at 7 p.m. — there will be more on the line than just Cotto’s WBA junior middleweight title.
It’s also a rematch of their classic 2008 bout, when Margarito won the welterweight title after a brutal TKO in the 11th round. Since, controversy surfaced about whether Margarito used illegal hand wraps in that fight.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Chilly running.
Frigid temperatures got you thinking about staying inside this weekend? Never mind those thoughts. Embrace the cold, face it, run with it.
• The Chilly Cheeks Run and Duathlon on Saturday will race around Cherry Creek State Park at 10 a.m. The run goes 4 miles, and the duathlon adds a 10.8-mile bike ().
• The Colder Boulder 5K on Sunday, starting at 8 a.m., runs from Potts Field on the CU campus ().
• Sunday’s Rudolph Ramble 5K at City Park in Denver at 10 a.m., as part of the Run Denver series ().
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Prep title games.
Root Sports will provide live HD coverage of Saturday’s Lakewood-Columbine 5A state football championship at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., immediately following the 4A Valor Christian-Pine Creek contest, also at Mile High. The 4A championship will air on a tape delay at 5:30 p.m.
Both games during the past two years were aired on a day-long tape-delay basis.
Root Sports will feature nine cameras during coverage, instead of the traditional six.
Drew Goodman and Sherdrick Bonner will call the 5A game, with Tom Helmer and Matt McChesney covering 4A action. Alanna Rizzo and Mark Stout will be on the sidelines for both games.
Dusty Saunders, The Denver Post
