Paul Klee, sports editor

Answer: Northern Colorado

Off to the best start in program history, Bears Action Ball is 9-1 and bound for the Big Dance.

Coach Steve Smiley’s running the best-kept basketball operation in Colorado.

How consistently good are Greeley’s finest? Over the last three years, UNC lost top scorers to the NCAA transfer portal only to increase its win total the following season: Dalton Knecht (to Tennessee), Saint Thomas (to USC) and Langston Reynolds (to Minnesota). That’s really tough to do in the Big Sky.

It’s all but impossible these days to keep a roster intact from one season to the next. But Smiley’s experience at the juco level — where turnover is the name of the game — prepared him for the portal, a black hole for mid-majors.

UNC’s only defeat so far came on a buzzer-beating heave from St. Thomas in a 73-72 loss.

The next two weeks are a doozy for the Bears, who get both a shot at in-state schools and a nationally ranked opponent with familiar ties. UNC plays Tuesday at No. 16 Texas Tech, where former UNC coach Jeff Linder is on the staff. The Bears then host Denver (Saturday, Dec. 20) and play at CU-Boulder (Dec. 28), where the Bears took the Buffs into double overtime last year.

Need an early stocking stuffer that won’t break the bank? A ticket to UNC-Denver costs $15.

The UNC star so far is Quinn Denker, who’s twice been named Big Sky player of the week. But Bears Action Ball is a plug-and-play operation. If you can play, you’ll get better there.

UNC is coming off its first NIT berth. This season? The NCAA Tournament.

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Tyler King, colleges beat writer

Answer: Colorado State

Let’s turn to our friend Ken Pomeroy for the answer.

Heading into Thursday, the top-rated team in Colorado by net rating is the Rams of Fort Collins (currently 60th overall).

Now, that’s only three spots higher than Tad Boyle’s Buffs and you could certainly make a case for CU as well, but CSU has a much clearer path to March Madness than the team in Boulder. 

For starters, the Rams have found a formula that works under first-year coach Ali Farokhmanesh. His old Northern Iowa bio says he received a degree in finance, but are we sure it wasn’t in mathematics? CSU is No. 1 in the country in 3-point percentage at 45.4%. The Rams are top 10 nationally in 3-pointers made per game at just under 12 and have six different players shooting over 38% from beyond the arc, including two over 50.

But they’re not just taking threes for the sake of taking threes. CSU has actually attempted 10 fewer threes than its opponents through 10 games. The Rams are just taking (and making) the quality looks they are generating.

It’s all led to the 17th-best offense in the nation, per KenPom.

While CSU has some cleaning up to do on the defensive end (185th in the country in defensive rating), the Mountain West is a much easier conference to win the way you want to. This great basketball league is in its final year before all of the best programs depart for the new-look Pac-12 and just two years removed from sending six teams to the big dance, but this year, it’ll be lucky if three teams make the NCAA Tournament. 

With impressive nonconference wins over Wichita State, South Florida and now the Buffs, CSU is on the right track, as long as it takes care of business in conference play and finishes in the top two like it did last season.