Despite missing the NCAA Tournament, here’s why the CSU Rams should embrace any opportunity to play postseason basketball

LAS VEGAS — The CSU Rams won’t be breaking out their dancing shoes this spring. 

After qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons, Colorado State won’t have the resume to receive an at-large bid in 2026. And after losing to San Diego State in the Mountain West quarterfinal at the Thomas and Mack Center on Thursday night, the dream of winning back-to-back conference tournaments to close out the Mountain West era is now off of the table as well. 

While it’s a bummer that CSU won’t have the opportunity to experience March Madness this time around, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Rams are done playing basketball this season. The NIT will almost certainly invite the Green & Gold to participate. The Crown could potentially be an option for the Rams as well, depending on logistics and perception of the program on a national level. 

As an alumnus and avid college basketball supporter, the NIT is the route I’d most like to see the Rams take. The Crown gives off LIV Golf vibes and the event taking place in April means that it directly interferes with the recruiting calendar — despite the potential NIL benefits that come with participating in the Las Vegas-based invitational, which is trying its best to replace the NIT as the second-best option for schools who don’t qualify for the big dance. 

When asked if there is still a desire to continue playing, even if it means that it won’t be in the NCAA Tournament, both Ali Farokhmanesh and the players representing the Rams at the podium were adamant that this group is still hungry for more. 

“We’re competitors, so we want to keep playing,” Jase Butler told reporters following the loss to SDSU. 

“Yeah, absolutely,” Farokhmanesh later added. “I think with the way this team has shown in the last month and a half, two months now, if that postseason opportunity comes our way and the NIT presents itself or what not, these guys would love to play, like Jase said.

“They are competitors, and the way they responded in there, I think you only get so many chances to play basketball. I think sometimes you lose sight of that. Once it’s done, it’s done. There’s no going back. Any chance you get to compete and play, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to do that.” 

Obviously the NIT has lost some appeal over the years. A lot like bowl games in college football, it’s just not considered the opportunity that it once was back in the day. What was once a true needle mover is now more like a participation trophy. But that does not mean that playing in the tournament is valueless in 2026. 

Prior to making three NCAA Tournaments in a four-year span, the 2020-21 Rams were one of the first four teams left out of the field. But instead of hanging their heads and sulking about the situation, a motivated squad led by a young Isaiah Stevens and David Roddy went on a run to the NIT semifinals, where they ultimately fell to Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers after taking down Buffalo and NC State in the first two rounds. 

Looking back at the situation a half-decade later, it’s not like Ram Nation views that NIT run as this special moment in CSU men’s basketball history. What it did do, though, was give those players a valuable taste of postseason basketball outside of the conference. And obviously the very next year the Rams produced a 25-win season and got a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament — the highest seed the program has ever received. And two years after that, Stevens would help lead CSU to its first tournament win under Niko Medved against Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers. 

As we already touched on in my most recent column, the 2025-26 season was really only scratching the surface of what this program can be under Farokhmanesh. Why not embrace an opportunity for the core of the roster to dip their toes in the postseason? And if all goes to plan in 2027, CSU should be right back in the mix come Selection Sunday. 

Winning basketball teams are not built overnight, especially when the staff actually has to develop talent and not just write a check to steal someone else’s. Embrace the process. It will pay off in the long run.