Lack Of Quality Road Wins May Have Doomed CSU's Tournament Chances
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) - The Colorado State Rams are still stinging after being stiff-armed out of the NCAA Tournament, but as a consolation the pulled a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament, something they unenthusiastically accepted.
When it comes to bubble teams, there are teams that hope they are in, and teams that believe they are in. As it turned it out the Rams' strong belief they should be in, in the end was maybe just a strong hope.
Even before the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas, CSU head coach Larry Eustachy was confident the Rams were on the safe side of the bubble.
"We are in, I really feel we are solidly in. How could you not be with an RPI as a 25, 26?" Eustachy said before the conference tournament.
Eustachy didn't have much to say Sunday evening after the teams were announced, but the feeling in Fort Collins is that the Rams were snubbed.
"The disappointment is that you've got 12 players in there crying. We're certainly one of the best 68 teams in the country. Obviously the committee didn't feel that way," Eustachy said. "Our team moves on."
RELATED: Larry Eustachy Remains Calm Following CSU's Snub
"I think they are (snubbed), but they didn't have as strong a case as Larry Eustachy kept saying they did -- I really don't think," said Kelly Lyle, who covers the Rams for The Coloradoan. "Partly because they didn't have those quality road wins."
CSU fans gathered Sunday afternoon for a team celebration. That celebration never happened.
"At least 95 percent of bracketologists had us in," CSU graduate Brad Droskerutz said. "It's a complete disgrace."
So the Rams are left with lots of questions -- what if they had won one more game? What if star player J.J. Avila had played against San Diego State?
"I think he has to be wondering a little bit, what might have been? I think J.J. is probably not really happy because he wanted to play from everything that I was told … and the coaches and others kind of talked him out of it and said, 'No, we need you for bigger things down the road.' Obviously maybe there was nothing bigger as it may turn out," Lyle said.
CSU will host an NIT game in Fort Collins and is one of the favorites in the tournament with a No. 1 seed.
