Because the calendar says January and not February, I am not ready to start discussing baseball quite yet. However, I will say Baseball America released their preseason poll and they listed the Frogs at #11. Baseball America is considered the preeminent source on college baseball as well as minor league and high school baseball. Furthermore, unlike the polls published in football and basketball, the guys at Baseball America do their homework and they assemble their poll by rank ordering the best teams in baseball. This is high praise for the Frogs.

Since it is January, we must talk about basketball. Jim Christian and the boys return home for a game against New Mexico at 5PM Saturday and if the Lobos #23 ranking is not reason enough to come watch, maybe the marketing offer of $20 for 2 tickets and 2 Chipotle burritos may be enough to persuade you to attend. But before we talk about New Mexico, we must revisit what was a fairly disappointing result against Colorado State.

The Frogs lost in Fort Collins Wednesday in what was a pretty closely contested game. In many ways the game went to form with a better first half than second half, especially for Ronnie Moss. Moss started the game 7 for 11 getting 19 points before ending the game 0 for 7 and getting just 2 points from the free throw line. The volatile performance was exacerbated by his 7 turnovers to go along with just 4 assists. But the telecasters were quick to point out that the Frogs were limited on offense to which I say hogwash.

The reason for such a statement was the absence of Zvonko Buljan. Who knew? I write an article and state on a podcast that the Frogs would be better off playing without Buljan and they were quick to grant my wish. And do you know what happened? Garlon Green, Nikola Cerina and Kevin Butler were asked to fill the minutes and did so admirably. They collected the rebounds that were missing and Ronnie Moss picked up the turnovers that were missing. That was mean on my part, but as I expected, the Frogs seemed to do just fine. In fact, I would argue they did better because they ran the offense the way it was supposed to be run. Throughout the whole game the Frogs used flex cuts and entry passes to Cerina instead of taking the first available shot from behind the arc, which was a breath of fresh air.

The drawback to the absence of Buljan is fouls. Cerina did admirably on defense, but opposing big men overwhelmed Green and Butler. Unfortunately, the Frogs found an even more daring competitor in the officials who were calling the game. They put the team in foul trouble calling 23 fouls on the Frogs, especially punishing those on the interior. So yes, Buljan probably could have swung this game in the Frogs favor since it came down to just a few baskets.

Forget that for a moment. As I stated before, the Frogs are playing to get better. Getting Buljan his 29 minutes is less important in the big picture than developing our freshmen Garlon Green and Nikola Cerina. Not only that, getting the team to understand the system Jim Christian is attempting to install is vital to the future success of this team. And against the Rams, the Frogs got easy baskets via their offense and gave Cerina the ball often in the post. Frankly, he did not look nearly as good as he did at home against UNLV, but again, he is a freshman who needs the opportunities to develop. Same goes for Green who was returning from a suspension after being ejected against UT-Pan American for a flagrant foul. He played freely and confidently, which is what Ronnie Moss started to do in the second half of last season. Yes we lost, but I was pleased with the results.

I did forget to mention that according to Jim Christian, Buljan did not make the trip because of personal reasons. When asked about whether he will play on Saturday he stated I am not sure. He is healthy. I will not speculate on the issue, but for Christian to be quoted like this, I have to imagine the personal reasons are not to his liking.

As for New Mexico, this should be a tough matchup for Saturday. Steve Alford typically presses from beginning to end and has his teams play a very physical game. I have made no secret that the Frogs are not great against a press and no coach wants to face a physical team when his squad is shorthanded.

Last year, Moss was suspended for the New Mexico game in Fort Worth while Buljan became a villain in Albuquerque after an altercation. The best player last season against the Lobos was Kevin Langford largely because he was able to get to the free throw line 27 times. It is imperative that the Frogs establish a presence in the paint to have any chance in this game. Otherwise the Lobos will neutralize Moss with pressure and guard Ruzgas so he cannot get a shot off. On defense, the Frogs will have a tough time matching up.

The line on this game started at 7 ½, which on a neutral court seems low. TCU is a much better team at home and New Mexico is markedly worse on the road, but these Frogs always seem to find a way to keep things interesting at home. Hopefully this game will be no different. So come get your burritos and possibly see the Frogs attempt to pull an upset.