Colorado St

Inevitably, when the committee announces the bracket on selection sunday, a "mid-major" will be highest ranked RPI team to be left out of the field.

Over the last 6 years, the highest RPI team not to make the field has consistently come from a non-BCS conference. In fact, over the last three years, the committee became even more biased. At least the 5 best RPI teams not to make the field were "mid-majors".

The Non-BCS Top 25 is a weekly companion to the popular CHN Top 50 ranking, taking an in-depth look into the underrated universe of teams outside of the big six. The original Non-BCS ranking.

 

Saturday's Conference Tournament Primer

Wednesday was a big night for bubble teams as a few had opportunities to either bolster or solidify their NCAA tournament resumes. Three were able to take advantage with wins over ranked opponents: Cincinnati, Colorado State and USF. Tim Miles' Rams were at the end of a three-game stretch in which they took on the top three teams in the Mountain West, and CSU's 66-59 comeback win over #17 UNLV may have punched their ticket to the Big Dance. Dorian Green scored 16 points and dished out three assists to lead the way for the Rams, who outscored UNLV 40-18 in the second half.

Wednesday's Conference Tournament Primer

#14 Southern Miss (21-6, 10-4, CUSA)

#26 Colorado St (16-10, 6-6, MWC)

#30 UCONN (17-11, 7-9, Big East)

#35 Saint Louis (21-6, 10-4, A10)

#43 Northwestern (17-11, 7-9, Big Ten)

Late offensive fouls and the foul line made the difference in the first meeting between #5 Kansas (23-5, 13-2) and #3 Missouri (25-3, 12-3), with the Tigers gaining the edge in both categories and ultimately winning 74-71. There's a lot more on the line in the rematch as the Jayhawks can clinch at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title with a win, but a Missouri win would not only move the Tigers into a tie for first but also give them the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker.

Colorado St (17-9, 6-5, #26 RPI, #82 Sagarin)

Drexel (22-5, 14-2, #82, #64)

Miami (17-10, 7-6, #49, #48)

Mississippi St (19-9, 6-7, #60, #60)

Washington (19-8, 12-3, #51, #61)

This eight-day stretch for Colorado State has the potential to be a season-defining on as Tim Miles' team faces all three of the teams ahead of them in the Mountain West standings. Thanks to Pierce Hornung the Rams are off to a good start, as the senior accounted for 13 points, 15 rebounds and four steals in the 71-63 win at Moby Arena. About a month ago the Lobos embarrassed Colorado State at The Pit, doing whatever they pleased in an 85-52 laugher that was part of a 2-5 stretch for the Rams.

While Mississippi State's (19-8, 6-6) NCAA tournament prospects won't boil down to just one game there's no mistaking the importance of their game against #1 Kentucky (26-1, 12-0) in light of their three-game losing streak. It's one thing to drop three straight games at this point in the season and another to have those defeats come against Georgia, LSU and Auburn. That's not going to get it done for Rick Stansbury's squad, and their inability to take care of the basketball in recent games has been a big reason why.