Expectations Rammed

Colorado St 71 New Mexico 63

I believe New Mexico is the best team in the Mountain West. Their past two wins, a drubbing of UNLV and a handy win on the road against San Diego State helped reaffirm my belief. The Lobos were really rolling. Last night Colorado State derailed their roll and gave me a mini crisis of faith. Then I took a breath. Pierce Hornung played an amazing game for Colorado State with 13 points, 15 rebounds and 4 steals. The Rams are undefeated at home and have another quality win against San Diego State. And they are playing with an outside shot at an NCAA Tourney bid. So, I still believe New Mexico is the best in the Mountain West and I still believe they are capable of the deepest tourney run outside of the power conferences with the possible exception of the Wichita State Shockers. Now that I've gotten over last night's shock.

Northwestern Heartbreak

Yup, the Wildcats dropped their second OT loss in as many tries against the Michigan Wolverines last night. Can they still make the tournament? I think they may need to win out. I think they likely won't. Oh, the Shurmanity!

Missouri Shuffle

Missouri lost at home to Kansas State last night 78 to 68. Rodney McGruder scored 24 points and the Wildcats (of the purple Manhattan variety) got an excellent win to move themselves out of bubble talk and into the tournament. A tale of two purples.

What it says for Missouri, who trailed by as much as 16 points, is nothing new. They rely on great guard play on offense. Their defense is so-so. It's a veteran group, but when that's your team when you're off you're off. And Missouri will likely get its second loss in a row when it travels to Kansas this Saturday. Still, 4 losses on the season isn't shabby.