Colorado State vs Gardner-Webb 11/7/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Gardner-Webb Bulldogs and the Colorado State Rams meet in college basketball action from the Moby Arena on Monday night.

The Gardner-Webb Bulldogs will try to take another step forward in 2022-23, after ending 2021-22 with a record of 18-13, including an 11-5 mark in Big South conference play to finish with the #3 seed in the conference tournament. The Bulldogs took out Campbell in a nail-biter in the quarterfinals before falling to Winthrop in the semifinals, ending their season. The Bulldogs lose two of their best players from last year’s group with D’Maurian Williams (14.5 PPG) and Lance Terry (14.3 PPG) both gone, but this is a solid group that’s a healthy mix of freshmen and newcomers via the transfer portal. DQ Nicholas transfers in from Southeast Missouri State to give Gardner-Webb some stability at the point guard position while also hitting the D-II pool to get Caleb Robinson (18.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG for Catawba College) and Quest Aldridge (14.2 PPG, 5 RPG, 4.6 APG for Belmont Abbey) to bolster the rotation. Only time will tell if Gardner-Webb can put it all together to contend in the upper half of the Big South once again this season.

The Colorado State Rams will look to build on another solid season under Niko Medved, finishing at 25-6 overall, including a 14-4 mark in Mountain West conference play to finish with the #2 seed in the conference tournament. The Rams took out Utah State in the quarterfinals before falling to San Diego State in the semifinals. The Rams did end up getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but were dispatched early by Michigan in the first round. The Rams have the unenviable task of replacing star forward David Roddy (19.2 PPG, 7.5 RPG) after going pro last year, but Isaiah Stevens does return after posting 14.7 PPG and a team-high 4.7 APG last season. Joe Palmer is an interesting get for Colorado State as a former D-III All-American, logging 21 PPG and 9 RPG at 6’4”, but the name to watch may end up being Patrick Cartier, who had 22 PPG and 6.1 RPG for D-II Hillsdale College last year as an All-American & extremely efficient stretch forward, who could shoot 43.6% from three, finish inside and pass the ball extremely well as well. The pieces are definitely there for Colorado State to contend for an at-large bid once again and potentially challenge for the Mountain West crown this season.

Gardner-Webb is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall while the under is 13-5-1  in their last 19 road games. Colorado State is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 home games while the under is 6-2 in their last 8 games overall.

I get the case to be made either way in this one as both have had some issues with turnover within the roster and both have some returning pieces as well. That being said, I like the Rams here. Niko Medved’s just a solid coach who is going to have his guys ready and even though Roddy is gone, there’s still a lot to like about the Rams’ makeup this season. Gardner-Webb will be fine down the road, but right now, the Rams are just the team in the better position as it’s going to take GW time to build that cohesion. Give me Colorado State here.