Colorado State vs Nevada Odds, Pick for Wednesday

No. 24 Colorado State and Nevada meet at Lawlor Events Center for the headliner in the Mountain West Conference on Wednesday night.

The Rams returned to the national rankings after a pair of wins over Air Force and UNLV and are now 15-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

Meanwhile, the Wolfpack have struggled in MWC play, dropping three straight to move to 15-3 on the year.

Things haven't come easy for Colorado State after it won 12 of 13 in the nonconference slate. The Rams have faced four MWC squads inside the top 100 in the NET, and will add another here.

These wins will go a long way in building a strong case for Niko Medved’s team to earn a place in the NCAA Tournament. This squad already boasts wins over Creighton, Colorado, Washington, Boston College and Louisiana Tech.

One of the keys to battling this difficult schedule is the veteran leadership on the roster. With a trio of Isaiah Stevens, Patrick Cartier and Joel Scott, Colorado State is the only program in the nation with three 2,000-point career scorers on its roster.

Of the three, Stevens garners most of the headlines as he's among the top five active players in both career points and assists. He is also the program’s all-time leading scorer after passing Pat Durham (1985-1980) earlier this season.

Everything was rolling for coach Steve Alford and his team. Nevada got off to a 15-1 start that included wins over Washington, TCU and Georgia Tech. The Wolf Pack even opened MWC play with commanding wins over Fresno State and Air Force. However, things have fallen apart since.

The losses to Boise State and San Diego State weren't too surprising given the talent on those rosters, but the loss to Wyoming started to raise eyebrows within the fanbase.

Alford has plenty of success on his resume as he's taken all of his schools to the NCAA Tournament and multiple to the Sweet 16.

With a veteran roster returning from a team that lost in the First Four last season, I’m not counting out the Wolf Pack just yet.

If you just looked at the recent form of these teams, you may be puzzled by the fact that oddsmakers are pricing Nevada as the favorite. I believe that tells you everything you need to know about the spot.

After the three straight losses, I think we'll see a very motivated and desperate Wolf Pack squad.

So, my best bet is to back the home team on the first-half moneyline at -125 odds or better.

Nevada has been known to start fast at the Wolf Pack rank 37th in the country in average first-half margin (+6.3), a number that grows to +11.6 at home.

Meanwhile, Colorado State has been losing at the half in three of its past four conference games. The Rams also might be looking ahead to The Border War rivalry game at Wyoming this weekend.

This is a tough one to call, but I’ll back the desperate team to get off to a fast start at home.

Pick: Nevada 1H Moneyline (Play at -125 Odds or Better)

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