The CSU Rams are for real.
Colorado State improved to 13-2 by winning their last seven straight games, a school record for most non-conference victories, while tying the school record for 22 straight home wins as they beat St. Bonaventure with ease last Saturday.
Larry Eustachy and his new coaching staff have shaped and molded a good team into one on the verge of greatness by focusing on rebounding and defense before scoring. The Rams are winning by controlling possessions, and Colton Iverson and Pierce Hornung are the top rebounding front court in the nation.
Iverson and Hornung combine for 24.3 points and 19.1 rebounds, while the team's 42.5 boards per game are eighth-best in all of college basketball. They put up 74.9 points per, but only allow 59.5 – blowing out many opponents so far this season.
Their great play has been noticed by national media men Joe Lunardi and Andy Glockner.
ESPN's Lunardi has the Rams in as a 12 seed, participating in a play-in game against Ole Miss before actually getting into the NCAA Tournament.
Sports Illustrated's Andy Glockner believes CSU is a bit better than that, picking them to finish as a nine seed and predicting they'll play Oklahoma State.
Currently, Colorado State's RPI is 22 on a strength of schedule (SOS) of 100 and that should improve following this Saturday's game against No. 15/16 San Diego State (12-2). The Aztecs start their Mountain West slate of games Wednesday evening against Fresno State, while SDSU will be the Rams' first conference foe of the season.
CSU – SDSU tips off at 6 p.m. MT Saturday night from San Diego, California and can be seen on NBC Sports Network.
Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist. You can follow Rich on twitter or facebook for all you CSU Rams news and opinion.
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