Posted at 3:30 PM EST odds are subject to change.

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Arena Auditorium, Laramie, WY

CBS Sports Network

Wyoming +6 over Utah State

9:00 PM EST. If you haven’t watched a Cowboys game this year, thank your lucky stars that you’ve got better things to do, because it is a lesson in pain. As you can see by Wyoming’s underwhelming 9-15-1 record Against the Spread (ATS) this season, the Cowboys do not send their backers to the pay window as often as they should. Wyoming’s 8-18 record is also a disappointment, as there were some pretty lofty preseason expectations in Laramie, with some publications pegging the Cowboys to be as high as a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Laugh at that now, but before the season, it looked like Wyoming was ready to take the next step behind Hunter Maldonado and Graham Ike, building on last year’s 21-3 season. However, a significant leg injury to Ike has left the Cowboys looking like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. If there are any positives in that situation, it was finally decided that Ike would be red-shirted and shut down for the rest of this season. His status no longer hangs over the Cowboys.

Lucky for Wyoming, the Mountain West Conference (MWC) allows every school into their tournament, so the golden ticket is still sitting there at the end of the finish line. With the cutting of the nets in Vegas, comes the Mountain West’s at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. That’s important because motivation this time of year can be suspect for those teams that truly have “nothing” to play for. We're not saying those programs are prone to gas out, but we are saying that it’s easier to keep a team focused and on point if the ultimate goal is still attainable despite one’s stumbles. In theory, anybody can get hot and make a run. Why not the Cowboys?

By contrast, Utah State is enjoying a breakout season, after being slotted as a middle of the road side in the Mountain West. Instead, the Aggies are 21-7 overall and 10-5 in the MWC, which puts them in fourth place, and just 2½ games back of #22 San Diego State for first in the conference. Where it matters most, at the pay window, the Aggies are a very tidy 16-11 ATS. The market loves a winner, and the Aggies have done just that, paying out in six of their last eight games, including two straight against Nevada and Air Force. Utah State beat Air Force 80-65 as a 13-point favorite. Meanwhile, the Falcons just knocked off Wyoming in the Cowboy’s last game. To further the Aggies' appeal further, they waffled Wyoming back in mid-January, 83-63, in Logan as 9½-point chalk. Now the Aggies are spotting just a pair of three-pointers tonight? Does that not look just a little too easy? If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. There is a reason that cliché stands the test of time. It applies here. We'll take the points.

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