Colorado State vs. Texas Prediction: Can Joel Scott, Rams Keep It Rolling in the Round of 64?
The No. 7 Texas Longhorns and No. 10 Colorado State Rams meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament tonight. Can Joel Scott and the Rams keep it rolling in the Round of 64? Ben Rajavuori answers.
Ben Rajavuori - March 21, 2024, 4:20 PM EDT
5 minColorado State vs. Texas Prediction: Can Joel Scott, Rams Keep It Rolling in the Round of 64?
The Texas Longhorns and Colorado State Rams meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in a 10-7 matchup. The winner will go on to face the winner of Tennessee/Saint Peters. Colorado State enters this matchup as the 10 seed after beating Virginia in the first four. Can they keep their magic going and pull off the upset against Texas?
COLORADO STATE VS. TEXAS Date, TIME, and WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: Thursday, March 21, 2024
- Start Time: 6:50 p.m. ET
- Where to Watch: TNT
Colorado State vs. Texas Prediction
Colorado State is one of the teams I believe can be a real sleeper as a double-digit seed. They are an extremely experienced team, as all five starters are seniors. Colorado State plays smart basketball, and they get to the rim and score there often. Colorado State went 15–2 in their nonconference schedule this season and went 2-0 against AP top-25 teams.
They played in a difficult Mountain West conference that was loaded with tough teams this year. some of their marquee wins this season were non-conference wins against Creighton and Colorado. They also had several wins over tournament teams in conference play this year, beating New Mexico, San Diego State, Boise State, and Utah State.
The test will be stiff for Colorado State if they want to pull up the upset, though, as the Texas Longhorns are no slouches. Texas enters this game with a 20–12 record. While Texas did well this season in a loaded Big 12 conference, they lost in the first round of the Big 12 conference tournament to Kansas State. They also didn’t have as much luck in non-conference play, as they dropped both of their quad-one games in non-conference play against Connecticut and Marquette. Texas returned key players this year like Tyrese Hunter, Dillon Mitchell, and Brock Cunningham, are they also added a talented transfer Max Abmas from Oral Roberts. The fault I have with Texas this season is their inability to beat the top teams on their résumé. They went 3–8 against top-25 teams. While they had plenty of games against tough opponents and had a tough conference schedule, they found little success against the harder opponents on their schedule. Colorado State has been more consistent against top opponents this season and has won more quad-one games. With Colorado State having so much experience and being more consistent in tough games, I expect them to weather the storm against Texas today and pull out the upset as a double-digit seed in the tournament.
Colorado State vs. Texas Pick
Pick: Colorado State +3 -110 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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