2013 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 8 Colorado State

The No. 1 Louisville Cardinals came to play tonight, beating No. 16 North Carolina A&T. Hey, it may have only been against a No. 16 seed, but look at what No. 1 Gonzaga went through tonight–almost became the first No. 1 seed to go down in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

Well, the No. 8 Colorado State Rams will be a much tougher opponent for Louisville in the third round. The Rams did just beat No. 9 Missouri by 12 points and out-rebounded them 36-18. I guess we now know who the better rebounding team was out of those two.

What to Watch For

Russ Smith is an elite scoring who puts up near 20 points per game and he achieved that in the second round by dropping 23. However, Colorado State’s Dorian Green is a pretty good scorer in his own right and he put up 26 points against Missouri.

The biggest factor for both teams will be the Rams’ rebounding and Louisville’s stingy defense. However, the Cardinals have to expect that Colton Iverson will have a much better game, since he did only score four points for the Rams. Iverson is the leading scorer for CSU.

Dorian Green and Peyton Siva are two great point guards in their own right and both teams will be counting on them. Although Green is the better scorer, Siva is one of the best field generals in the country and he plays mad defense.

Prediction

If Green can have the same production that he did tonight against the Cardinals, then Colorado State will win. However, Louisville has a great defense and it will likely not allow 26 points to Green. Iverson will show up to play against the Cardinals, which will be the difference maker.

Colorado State 75 Louisville 67