The Colorado St. Rams are on the bubble for the 2012 NCAA Tournament as the Mountain West's fourth team for the event, but did the victory over the No. 17 UNLV Rebels on Wednesday night secure the team a spot in the tourney? CBS Sports' Jeff Borzello thinks it's all but certain:
Methinks the Rams have punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament. They needed another marquee win for the ledger, and last week's win over New Mexico got them closer. On Wednesday, Colorado State came back from a 16-point deficit to knock off UNLV and give the Rams a 3-3 split against the top three of the league. The Rams have a great computer profile and just need to win at Air Force in the season finale to feel comfortable about a bid.
The Rams did go 3-3 against the top three teams in the Mountain West (New Mexico, San Diego State and UNLV), but those three wins all came at Moby Arena. The road losses were never close game for the Rams.
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Still, the Rams had the No. 27 RPI entering this week and should see that improve with the victory over UNLV. Avoiding a loss to Air Force on Saturday will help make up for the bad road loss to the Boise St. Broncos, 70-69, a couple weeks ago.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver, and for more on the Mountain West, visit Mountain West Connection. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Basketball for more news and notes from around the college hoops world.