Colorado State at Montana

Montana has a long history in the Big Sky Conference as always putting out a competitive team. This season there is a lot of excitement as they may put out their best team in a long time. The Grizzles return the bulk of their scoring and rebounding from last year as well as the top two players in the conference in Strait and Hasquet. They also return last year's Big Sky Freshman of the Year, Cameron Rundle and his senior backcourt-mate Matt Martin. Rundle connected on just under 48% from beyond the arc as a freshman. Wayne Tinkle also added two top JUCO players that are good enough to give the veterans on this team a challenge for minutes. Ceylon Elgin-Taylor and Sean Watson add depth and talent to an already deep and experienced team. Colorado State has fallen on hard times. First-year coach Tim Miles thought he had some talent coming back, but Jason Smith opted for the NBA. Both starting guards left the program with the coaching change, and many other players decided to leave the program as well. The departures took with them 85% of the offense, 93% of the assists and 85% of the rebounds. They will have only eight scholarship players and this season will be a long one. It is tough enough to play at Montana as it is, but bringing in a cast that has not played a game together against a solid, deep and athletic team on the road is too much to ask.