A battle for the top spot in the Mountain West Conference takes place this afternoon as the No. 16 New Mexico Lobos travel to play the No. 22 Colorado State Rams. The game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network. Currently the odds for the game have Colorado State favored by a few possessions.

Colorado State hasn't been in the NCAA Tournament in quite awhile. They're ranked for the first time in forever as well. Now they have their sights set on winning the Mountain West Conference. They've extremely tough to beat at home. In fact, the Rams own the nation's third-longest home win streak at 27 games.

New Mexico is a very solid team away from The Pit, going 6-3 this season on the road. The Lobos are currently a game ahead of Colorado State, but a loss here today would put the team's tied atop the conference. New Mexico has certainly had the Rams' number lately. Steve Alford's team has won 10 of the last 12 games in this series. They also picked up a win in the first game this season against the Rams, 66-61.

Kendall Williams or Tony Snell can lead the team on any given night and both are All-Conference type of players. Williams leads the team in scoring at better than 13 points per game while Alex Kirk is a double-double machine. Kirk is going to be huge in this one. In the Rams' last game at UNLV, they were out-rebounded for the first time this season. The Lobos aren't the best rebounding team in the country, in fact they're very pedestrian, but if they hit the glass hard tonight they'll hang around.

It's not hard to see why Colorado State is favored at home and with Colton Iverson dominating inside. He and Pierce Hornung will surely provide a problem for the Lobos in the paint. If the Lobos can't put bodies on the Rams' frontcourt it will be a long game for New Mexico.

New Mexico has not played since overcoming 34.7 percent shooting in last Saturday's 60-50 home victory over Boise State, so there's a chance they can come into this game a bit rusty. Or they'll come in sharp and ready to go. Either way, it's hard not to think Colorado State won't win at home.

Free Pick: Colorado State 67, New Mexico 59

Betting Tips For College Basketball Conference Games

Chuck Edel, Chris Andrews and Vegas Runner give some tips on betting college basketball conference games.