LARAMIE — What if the best college basketball team in Colorado doesn’t live in the state? Could that confusing proposition become a problem at NCAA Tournament time, if an invitation to the Big Dance gets mailed to the wrong address?
“I think we’re an NCAA Tournament team,” Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy said Wednesday.
I’m not so certain, despite the Rams’ 19-4 record.
The Mountain West will have to beg for more than two spots in to the NCAA tourney field.
“There’s not 68 teams better than Wyoming, there’s not 68 teams better than us, there’s not 68 teams better than Boise (State), there’s not 68 teams better than San Diego State,” Eustachy said. “But it won’t come out that way, because that’s the way it is.”
We all know college basketball isn’t fair. Is there any way the Mountain West will get four tourney bids?
“No,” Eustachy admitted.
I hate to be the one to break this to the CSU Rams.
But the best college basketball team in Colorado is actually from Wyoming.
Confused? Don’t be. Instead, the country should get to know the Wyoming Cowboys, whose 8-2 conference record is tied for best in the Mountain West. The Pokes are playing their most compelling basketball in nearly three decades, way back when Sports Illustrated set the national agenda instead of ESPN, and Fennis Dembo was featured on the magazine’s cover.
These Cowboys have the son of an NBA legend in Larry Nance Jr., who scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds during a lopsided 59-48 victory against Colorado State. Wyoming never trailed from opening tip to the final buzzer.
The Pokes can also boast of a distinct Colorado connection in junior guard Josh Adams, whose high-flying, gravity-defying tip at the buzzer to win the 2012 Class 5A state championship sits unchallenged at No. 1 among the top 10 hoops plays in the state’s prep history.
And one more thing: Wyoming plays such scary-good defense that coach Larry Shyatt’s team could steal a March Madness bid that Colorado State presumed was in its back pocket. While Eustachy leans on the strength of his team’s nonconference schedule, it would be hard to tell the Pokes, who have won twice against CSU by an average of 8.5 points, they are less tourney-worthy than the Rams.
“We’d like to play them again, let’s put it that way,” said Eustachy, who would relish another shot at Wyoming in the conference tourney.
In addition to sweeping the season series against CSU, the Cowboys have beaten the CU Buffaloes, the DU Pioneers and the Regis Rangers to dominate the state of Colorado.
But I’m not sure how much Wyoming helps the Mountain West get more than two tourney bids, for two reasons:
1) With unrelenting defense that’s as nasty and ugly as a ground blizzard on U.S. 287, Wyoming can make even the best teams in the conference look lost and inept.
Case in point: In the first half, CSU appeared frightened to get near the basket, scoring a mere 15 points during the opening 20 minutes, and the Rams finished the game missing 22-of-25 attempts from 3-point range.
2) Bracketologists hate the conference from America’s lost time zone.
When bids to the NCAA Tournament are extended, it would be an upset if the Mountain West receives more than two berths in the 68-team field. It would also be an injustice.
San Diego State, Colorado State and Wyoming all are deserving. But, in addition to all the computer analysis, basketball tradition does play with the heart strings of the selection committee. So even though the Big East ain’t what it used to be, it might well receive six invitations based on history, and we all know a Big Ten team would win any tiebreaker with Wyoming.
“I’d like to see Purdue come in here and win here,” Eustachy said.
Are the Cowboys building a solid tourney résumé?
“There are things in and out of our control. I spent 23 years up in those other leagues, and there’s a distinct advantage,” said Shyatt, who has been on coaching staffs from Clemson to Providence to Florida. “I don’t want our guys dwelling on it, and I don’t want to dwell on it.”
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or
