The Colorado State Rams made a run to the NCAA Tournament in 2012 before an unfortunate first-round matchup, and ESPN's Andy Katz thinks they have everything they need to make a similar run in 2013:
Tim Miles went to Nebraska for more stability and more dollars. But he left behind a loaded roster and a team that has no excuse not to return to the NCAA tournament. The Rams return their top scorers in Wes Eikmeier, Pierce Hornung and Dorian Green. Jesse Carr's torn ACL doesn't help matters, but there's still plenty of talent. Toss in big man Colton Iverson, a transfer from Minnesota, and the Rams have more experience than any other team in the Mountain West.
Miles has been replaced with Larry Eustachy, who had been the coach at the University of Southern Mississippi for the past eight season. Among the notable low-post talents Eustachy will have to work with is Hornung, a 6'5 power forward whose tenacity makes up for his lack of size at the position. Ken Pomeroy's offensive rebounding percentage ranked Hornung as the second-best offensive rebounder in all of Division I last season, and he was the only player in the top 25 shorter than 6'6.
In the 2012 NCAA Tournament, the 11th-seeded Rams lost 58-41 in the round of 64 to 6-seed Murray State, which had only lost one game during the regular season.